Free Love

FREE LOVE

ALEXANDRA KOLLONTAI

FREE LOVE

Translated from the
Russian by

C. J. HOGARTH

jj’c library

V V

LONDON

J. M. DENT AND SONS LTD.

ALL KtCHTS XESEKTID
PUMTED in great BRITAIN AT
THE CAMEIOT FKZ33, SOUTHAHrTOH
TttST PtISLUHED W igjE

9'M 7

K

NOTE

As this work is essentially a product of
revolutionary Russia, the translator has tried
not only to reproduce the author’s style exactly,
but also to retain her punctuation, and so forth.
The only exception is that he has everywhere
substituted the past tense for the historic present
in which most of the work is written.

FREE LOVE

Vasilissa was a working-girl^ a knitter. And in
her twenty-eighth year. Spare, anaemic, pale, a
typical “ child of the town.” Her hair, cropped
short after typhus, had become curly : from a
- distance she looked like a youth, being fiat-
breasted, with turned-down collar, and shabby
leathern belt. Not pretty. Only the eyes good :
eyes brown, kindly, observant, thoughtful. One
gazed into them, and became warmer of heart.
With such eyes one would not pass by another’s
grief.

A Communist, a ” Bolshevitchka.” She had
become one at the time of the outbreak of the
War. She had hated the War from its very first
day. In the factory they made collections for
the Front, and were ready to work many hours of
overtime for a victory by Russia. But Vasilissa
disputed, would not agree with anyone. The War
was a bloody business. Who had wanted it ? To
the people, from the War, there accrued only
oppression. Also, she was sorry for the soldiers
— so young they were ... It was like driving
sheep to the slaughter. Whenever, in a street,
she met a detachment which, in military array,
was departing to the War, Vasilissa would turn
away. To death, yet they were “ bawling,”
singing ! ... Yes, indeed — ^how bravely they
were marching, as to a festival 1

Bi I

2

Free Lt/ve

Vasihssa was well-educated, for she had re-
ceived instmction from, her father, a compositor.
She had read Tolstoy, and loved hts books.

Alone against everyone m the factory, she stood
“ for peace." They would have dismissed her
but working-hands were necessary. The foreman
scowled but did not give her discharge. About
her, about Vasihssa, there ran through all the
ward the report : " She stands against the War.^^
*' A Tolstoj’an,” people said. Women ceased to
converse with her, for she would not know her
country. She did not respect Russia, A lost
soul I

Rumours of her came also to the Regional
Secretar), a Bolshevik. He made Vasilissa’s
acquaintance. He had understood that *' the
girl IS staunch, knows what she wants, is just the
thing for the Party." They attracted her to the
Organisation. Vasihssa did not a£ once become
a " Bolshevitchka," She disputed with the
Committee’s members. She propounded ques-
tions She departed incensed. Later, having
changed her mind, she of herself proposed :
" I>et me work with you,” And she became a
** Bolshevitchka."

In the Revolution she organised others, at-
tended a Soviet. The Bdldici^ pleased her, and
she revered Lemn because he opposed wars out
and out.

With the Mensheviks and the S-R.’s she
argued cleverly. Ardent was Vasihssa, stubborn
—she did not have to dive into her pocket for
a word. Other female workers used to find

Free Love 3

themselves embarrassed, but Vasilissa could always,
when necessary, and without having first to think
about it, assume the talking. And always she
“ spoke practically.”

The comrades’ respected her. In Kerensky’s
time, at the elections to the town Duma, they
proffered her as candidate. The knitters at the
factory exulted. Whatsoever Vasilissa said, that
now would be law. Vasilissa knew how to get
on with “ the women.” Here with a coaxing,
there with a slogan. She knew all their needs ;
she herself had been in a factory from childhood.
And for ” the women ” she stood up stoutly.
Sometimes the comrades tried to abash her with
” You should give up your womenfolk. Have you
anything to do with them now ? Business more
important exists.”

Vasilissa would fire up, leap upon the comrades,
join issue with the Regional Secretary, and hold
her own. How were “ women’s affairs ” more
trivial than others } People were accustomed
always to take that view, and thence there re-
sulted “ backsliding of the women.”

Warlike was Vasilissa in the year ’18 ! She
knew what she wanted. And such she re-
mained. Others, of late years, had fallen off,
grown a little weary, taken to sitting in their
homes. But Vasilissa was always at work, always
“ declaiming,” always “ organising,” trying to
attain, arguing.

Tireless Vasilissa was. And whence gained
she the strength ? ” Pasty,” she had not a drop
’ This means fellow members of the Soviet.

^ Free Love

of blood in her face All eyes Kindly, observant,
clever

Who looked into those eyes could not soon
forget them

A letter was handed to Vasilissa — a long-
expected, wished for letter Ftonv her beloved,
her husband comrade For months had they
been parted That had been unavoidable Civil
war — and now the “ Industrial Front *’ The
Party was “ mobilising ” all its members Revo-
lution IS no toy of all it demands their sacrifices
So here was she, Vasilissa, too, proffering her
sacrifice to the Revolution — constantly living
Without her beloved, alone, constantly in separa-
tion from him At different ends of Russia were
they lodged Her female friends used to say
" So much the better , he will love you the
longer, and not tire ” Possibly they were right
Only, It was tedious without him , it used to be
so tedious as to defy description True, Vasi-
lissa had little free time task tacked itself on
to task from morning until late at night, and there
was Work of the Party and of the Soviet Impor
tant, necessary, interesting Yet as soon as one
reached one^s little room again (Vasilissa called
It her ‘ attic," after the countrj fashion) a longing
for her dear one would chill her heart as with a
breath of frost , She would sit down to tea,

Free Love ^

and give way to thought. And it would almost
seem to her as though she was necessary to no
one. As though she had not the comrades with
whom she had been working all day — she had not,
the aim for which she was toiling, was dissipating
her strength. Was all this necessary ? To whom
was it necessary } To human beings ? Did
they value it ? Why, they had again spoilt the
work — were exchanging abuse, laying complaints
against one another . . . Each of them was striving
for self. They did not care to understand that
their duty was to live for “ the Collective.” They
were unable so to do.

And they insulted her, were rude, grudged her
the ration of a “ responsible worker ”... Then
let the ration go altogether ; she did not want
it ! . . The comrades, that day, had talked until
little strength remained to her, and there was a
giddiness in her head. Now she sat leaning her
elbows upon the table, and drinking tea flavoured
with a morsel of sugar, and recalling all the day’s
affronts. And it seemed to her that there was
nothing bright and good in the Revolution.
Only failures, and backbitings, and strife.

Had but her “ darling ” been there, she could
have talked, relieved her soul ! . . . And he would
have caressed her, petted her !

“ Now, what have you been fretting about,
Vasia .? Such a Fury in public, too 1 ' I fear no
one,’ says she. With all she joins battle, and to
no one will she yield. And now, if you please :
there she sits with feathers fluffed, like a sparrow
under the eaves ! . . . ”

6

Free Love

And he would have caught her up (he was
strong), and fallen to carrying her about the
room like a child, and singing a lullaby Both of
them would have laughed \ And there would
have been a positive ache m her heart for joy •
Vasihssa loved her “darling,” her husband-
comrade A handsome man, he, and kindly, and
one who so loved her 1 So loved her I .

Vasihssa remembered her “ darling,” and
became more than ever depressed So empty,
like this, in the “ attic ” it was Lonely She
sighed She cleared away the tea things, and
reproached herself with " What more do you
want ^ That life should furnish you always with
delights ? ” Work after her heart, the respect
of the comrades, and her beloved one at her side
into the bargain ? \ Would not Vasihssa
Dementievna have been too well off ^

Such had been Vasiltssa’s thoughts dunng the
winter But now spring was come The sunshine
gleamed so cheerfully, and the sparrows under the
eaves were chirping Vasihssa would look at
them each morning, and smile She was remem-
bering how her dear one had called her a “ fluffed
sparrow ’ Spring summoned to life Yet it was
becoming harder than ever to work Ansmia
had developed in Vasihssa, her lungs were
playing her tricks Besides, a regular ‘ Panama ”

Free Love 7

had happened. Vasilissa had organised a “ house-
commune.” This had been over and above her
general Party and Soviet work ; the latter was
one thing, and the “ house-commune ” was
another, a thing now fallen out of favour. Long
ago had there settled in Vasilissa’s head the idea
of establishing a model dwelling. The spirit
in it was to be ” Communistic ” ; not simply
“ common life ” was to obtain, so that all there
should be to themselves, and everything should
be separate. Nobody’s business was to have to
do with anybody else’s business . . . Yet there
had been differences, quarrels, discontent. No-
body had wanted to work for “ the Collective ” ;
everyone had been presenting demands. No, no.
Something else than that had Vasilissa contem-
plated . . Patiently, by degrees had she arranged
the house. What trials she had endured 1 Twice
she had been deprived of the house. With whom
had she not pleaded ! . . She had held out. She
had accommodated. A common kitchen. A
washhouse. A creche. A dining-room — ^Vasi-
lissa’s pride : curtains at the windows, geraniums
in pots. A library, or sort of club room. At first
everything had been splendid. The women
lodgers had, at encounters, beslavered Vasilissa
with kisses — “ You jewel of ours !' Our cham-
pion ! . . Already you have so lightened our
lot that words for it are not to be found ! ”

But, later, all had gone wrong . . . Disputes
had begun over the arrangements. One cannot
teach people to be cleanly ... In the kitchen,
disputes because of the cooking utensils. Lodgers

8 Free Lffie

had eoodcd the washhouse-ffith water, and scar«l>
done any bailing No matter what the mishap,
the difference, the upset— at once upon VasiJissa
the resentment She, if you please, was the
“hostess” there, she, if }OU please, " didn t
look properly to things ” Htcoursc to fines had
become necessary The lodgers had then taken
umbrage, sented insults There had been some
who had departed

Later — more of this Quarrels, jars Hcfcin,
throughout, there had borne their part a couple*
oh, such a couple, of married mischief makers,
Feidoscicr’s not a thing had been to their liMng
They had fussed, fussed , they themsclr es had not
known what they wanted, but alwa)'s it had been
something else And they bad unsettled the
rest You ^ee, thej had. heitu. the fiss-t to enter the
house, as also, in a way, “ hosts ” But what did
they want ? Ko one could make out Yet tht^
had poisoned life for Vastlissa, through, ca cry da) ,
unpleasantnesses

Vasihssa had weaned To tears had she feJund
the affair \ex her She had perceived the eOter-
pnse to be entenng upon nun So, next, a new
regulation everything for cash down — water,
electnc light Pay dues, meet obligations Vasi-
hssa hither, thither Nothing had resulted
“ A new regime ’ — ^yes, but, without money, one
cannot get far

‘ Vasihssa had striven, stnven Oh, suppose the
(mmshcdschemebe given up Butnothkethatwas
®hc "What she tookin hand she did notrehnqmsh

She had gone to Moscow Day after da) had

Free Love

9

she craved admittance to one or another Depart-
ment, and made her way to “ Heads ” themselves.
She had pleaded for her “ house-commune ”
until on her reports and accounts having been
highly approved, she had gained a repairs subsidy.
And from that she had been able to advance to a
“ housekeeping estimate.”

She had returned to her lodging beaming.
But the Fedoseiev couple, the makers of mischief,
had met her with sour mien. They had scowled.
They had looked at Vasilissa with resentful eyes,
as though she had done them some ill in standing
up for the “ house-commune.”

And they had initiated poison from another
quarter. They had started the calumny that Vasi-
lissa kept the house’s books “ dishonestly.” She
got her bit ! — ^What had she not endured i . . .
It hurt her even to recall it.

Thus things had gone badly whilst she had
been without her dear one ; thus she had, during
that time, found an intimate, a comrade, to be
very necessary to her.

She had called for him, written to him. He had
not been able to return . . Important business.
He had received a new, responsible appointment.
To rearrange, restore the trading affairs of the
firm in which formerly he had served as a mere
“ small fry ” clerk. The winter through he had
toiled, the work being difficult. He had been
powerless to tear himself away. He had been
held fast upon it. ^ ^

So Vasilissa had had to bear upon her thin
shoulders, alone, all the odium — to drink to the

JO Free Lffoe

dregs all the hunian injustice. And, as the most
painful, the most offensive, point, from whom
had the injustice come ? From her own, from her
comrades, from Trorijng-/bJt J . - . As from
bourgeois I . . . ThanU to the Committee, she
had borne it out. The Committee had supported
her. It had rvot allowed her to bring the case to
court, but the members themselves had settled it.
Clearlp the matter was mere slander. All of it
came of malice, and of ignorance.

Then, when the members had been going to
enct the Fcdoseicv couple, the latter had pleaded
guilty, begged Vasihssa's pardon, assured her
Slat ^ways they had “ respected " her , , ,
Yet Vasihssa had notrejoiced over the xdetory. She
had been too worried, too pained, to have energy
left for rejoiang. She had fallen out of health.
But in umc she had betaken herself to work again.
Unfortunately, something in her soul seemed to
have undergone extinction And she had cared
for her “ house-commune ” no longer ; she had
suffered gnei'ously because of it. People had, as
it were, “ profaned ” her favountc offspring . . ,
As once, during her childhood, it had happened
t^t her younger brother, Kolka, had shown her a
piece of sweetmeat, and, when she had reached
for It, laughed mischievously, and said : ** See
JP® dirty your lollipop/’ and spat upon It,
“/here, Vasia. You can cat your lollipop now.
r^ce It IS ] ” But Vasihssa, weeping with
turned away. " Horrid bo> 1
Wret^ 1 Good-for-nothing 1 Why have you
dirtied my sweetmeat ? ” The same now with

Free Love 1 1

the “ house-cominune.” Better had she never set
eyes upon it. She had still served on the “ man-
agement,” but no longer put into it her soul.
Let it fall to pieces ! And a coldness towards
the lodgers had arisen. Had not they gone
against her .?* With the Fedoseievs. And why
Why .? . . .

Towards people in general she had grown
colder. Formerly her heart had been warmer.
She could have taken everyone to her heart. She
had pitied all, cared for all . . . But now her only
wish : /‘Leave me in peace ! . . Do not
trouble me ! . . I am tired.”

But now spring was peeping through the
window of Vasilissa’s garret. Under the roof
itself. And along with the warm sunshine there
was peeping through the window a blue spring
sky with curly clouds. White, tender, melting
. . . on one side, there was sticking up the roof
of an old seignorial mansion where now a
” mothers’ home ” existed : and behind it there
was a garden. Buds still were only filling.
Spring had come late. But, nevertheless, it had
come, the beloved one.

And in Vasilissa’s heart also there was spring
to-day. During the winter that heart had grown
chill. Always alone, and alone. Continually
cares, contention, unpleasantnesses . . . But,

12

Free Love

to-day, a festival I A letterfrom her dear one, from
the desired one, from Volodia And what a
letter I Not for long since had Vasihssa received
such a missive

“ Do not agonise me, Vasia , to my endurance
an end might come How often you have
promised to join me, to visit me I Yet always
you disappoint and gneve me You are my
turbulent little Fury 1 Have you again been
scrapping with ’ everyone ? Well, even here
there have been rumours about you, amongst the
comrades Have you even, according to what
they say, got into the newspapers ^ . But

now, as jour affair has ended in victory, come to
your loving Volodika, who is 'waiting, and long
has waited, for you You shall sec how ‘ like a
bann we are going henceforth to live I . I
tiave my own horse here, and a cow, and a motor-
^r a ways for duties And I have servants as
i. Acre will be no bothers for you m

is M ^«th us here,

Ynu =PpJc-trces are blossoming.

l7wavf fo Yet our life ought

bered th-iP T They have remem-

Anarchist . ^t

to you^alreadv^^^Yo ^ ^ ^^ve written

here ^ things over

here , the mischief makers have weane? ml"

‘Bolshevist for Pirty Coamuttee

\

Free hove 13

there is no existing for them 1 . . Yet for them
to fasten a quarrel upon me is difficult. I manage
affairs too well. Yet, for all that, you are very
necessary to me just now. Warmly I kiss your
brown eyes. Always your Volodika.”

Vasilissa, as she sat there, looked through the
window at the sky, at the white clouds, and
pondered. And in her eyes there was a smile.
A goodly letter 1 Volodia loved her, steadfastly
loved her. And he, in return, was how dear to
her J . . The letter lay on her lap ; she looked
at it as though at Volodia’s head. As she did so
she did not see the blue sky, the roofs, the clouds ;
she saw only the handsome Volodia, with his
subtly smiling eyes. Vasilissa loved him, so
loved him as to ache of heart . . . And how had
she got through the whole winter without him ?
For seven months had she not seen him ! . . .
And yet, actually, she seemed to have thought
about, to have missed, him but little. She had
had no time to think about him, to miss her
husband. For how many cares and vexations
had life not brought during the winter ! . . She
had saved her beloved offspring, the “ house-
commune,” with its stupid, non-understanding,
ignorant people — she had won the day. But her
love for, her missing of, Volodia she had none the
less retained in her soul’s recesses. Her love for
him had remained immutably in her heart. She
had thought of him, and felt : “ He is here,
Volodia, in my heart.” And how one can be
conscious of a delight from such an impression,
and also of what a burden can flow from love ! . .

Fr« Leve

Surely this was because ceaselessly she had concern
for him What might not be happening to him <*
He had no " discipline ” m him The comrades
were right Vasilissa herself knew that they
girded at him for ' an Anarchist ” He did not like
complying with instructions , alwa)*s he dro-ve his
own line 1 On the other hand, he knew how
to work The others did not m the same way.
He was all there whenever it came to business
It was for the same reason that they had been
living apart, so as not to hinder one another.
And she had loved to think “ If business there

1|i I I* *

hindered his work

“Work before all else, and then our love,
Vasia — IS not that so ^ “ Vladimir had said, and
Vasilissa had agreed She herself had felt thus
It was good that they should be not merely hus-
band and wife, but ‘ comrades ” And now he
was calling her, as a comrade, to his help, to
remove difficulties What were those dif-
ficulties ? Vasilissa read the letter again She
felt perplexed If because of Savehew, that was
not well Dishonourable that Saveliev was, a
speculator Why did Volodia have to do with
him A “ Director,” as Volodia was now listed,
ought to be as a crystal, and to avoid dubious
^ople Volodia was trustful He was sorry for
Saveliev, ^d stood up for him . Such men, who

plun^red for their own gam, ought not to be
pitied Let them bear the penalty for their

Free Love

15

deeds. But Volodia had a kind heart . . . And
others did not understand that. They accounted
his “ friendship ” otherwise. Volodias did not
consort with Savelievs. Volodia had many
enemies ; he was headstrong — could put no rein
upon his tongue. How if things were to happen
as they had happened three years ago ? How if
a “ case ” of some sort were to be got up against
Volodia ? , . Was it difficult to “ traduce ” a
human being In everyone it was possible to
pick holes. Of her own experience Vasilissa
knew that. Had people not been poisoning her
the winter through ? Now it was Volodia’s turn.

She must go to his help I . . She must
support him, shame the comrades there. Why
think twice about it ? Why wait Let her get
ready, and take the road.

But the “ house-commune . Ah ! It was
all one ! There was no saving the enterprise
now ! . . . . Ruin was on the way. As things
had turned out, the victory lay not with Vasilissa,
but with the Fedoseievs. There was no help
for it ! . . .

Vasilissa sighed. She moved nearer to the
window. She gazed into the courtyard. She, as
it were, took leave of the building. She stood so
awhile. Grave. Melancholy.

Then suddenly she bethought herself — “ Soon
I shall be seeing Volodia 1 ” . . And her cheeks
filled with blood, and actual pain came upon her
heart from the happiness. The dear one ! The
longed-for one 1 “ I am going, going to you 1 . .
My Volodika I ...”

i6

free Love

Vasilissa was travelling in a train The second
daj of her travelling, but still a whole twenty four
hours lay ahead

She was travelling non accustom cdly, with
amenUies, like a bourgcoisc Vladimir had sent
money for the journey (now everything was for
payment), and told her to buy a sleeping-car
ticket ■' In addition, he had sent her a piece of
matcnal, for her to make a “ costume *' for her-
self The Wife of a “ Director '* needed to be
" Well gowned ” Vasilissa had smiled when the
comrade come from “ ^Hadimir Ivanovitch,** from
“ the Director," had presented himself with the
cash and the material The comrade had un-
packed the material He had enthused over its
quality like a stores salesman Vasilissa had
laughed, had mimicked the comrade And the
comrade had seemed to be offended He had not
meant to jest — ‘ The article really is of the finest
kind ” So Vasilissa had become hushed she
did not un-^erstand the " new comrades," the
Industnahats, but to make merry she had ceased

The comrade had departed Vasilissa had
long continued turning over the matcnal in her
hands She had not been wont to think of
fashions But, now that Volodia wished his wife
not to disgrace him — ^be it so 1 Procure herself a

costume," fashionable, such as all were wearing,
she would

She had gone to a dressmaker, a sempstress

Free Lo’ve

She had expounded the matter — this, that, and
the other. “ Grusha, make me something as
stylish as possible, such as everybody is wearing.”

Grusha had produced some journals which a
comrade had brought her from Moscow the
previous autumn. She had made, the winter
through, according to them. The result had
pleased. People had praised her.

“ Very good. Choose for yourself, Grusha. I
myself cannot choose. I care only to be tidy, and
not ragged. Fashions I do not understand.”

Grusha long had turned over a torn journal
and moistened its pages. At last — she had
chosen.

“ Here, now ! . . This will suit you ; you are
thin. In your case it will be necessary to make
the figure look a little stouter. This is the very

thing The hips shall seem broader, and

pleats be on the bosom, so that you won’t appear
so flat ... I will make it so as to please your
husband.”

“ That is excellent.”

They had bargained about the price. They
had kissed. Then Vasilissa had departed con-
tent. It was good to have dressmakers in the
world ; she herself, Vasilissa, could never have
contrived for herself a single garment ! Volodika
too was such an expert in ” women’s gewgaws ” !
Of course, for whilst in America, he had held
situations in stores of ladies’ fashions. There he
had acquired experience. He had become a
“ specialist ” in such work. Nowadays those
acquirements were wanted as much as any other.

1 8 Free Ijove

" Red merchants " were continually requiring to
be made good judges of women s fnppcry : it too
was " merchandise ” !

Vasilissa sat beside a window of the coup^ in
the sleepmg-car Alone. Her fellow traveller,
a “ Nepman’s lady,” noisy, rustling in silk, all
scented, all nnged, had gone to see some neigh-
bours. There had been loud laughing there with
“ cai'aliers." But from Vasilissa she had held
aloof Squeamishly she had compressed lips into :
“ Pardon me, good soul, hut you are sitting upon
my plaid . , . crumpling it all o\ er.” And, again :
“ I wish, my dear, you would withdraw into the
corridor whilst I make my toilet.” She, the
scented ” Nepman’s kdj,” might have been
mistress outnght of the coup^, and admitted
Vasilissa thither of grace alone . . . Vasilissa had
not liked the “ Nepman's fady " calling her my
dear.” But also she had not wanted to '* get
mixed up in ” a quarrel Better suit herself to
all ! . . .

Evening fell. Over the sprmg fields there
spread greyish-blue <;hadows, A red ball, the
sun, was hanging low over a blue-black strip of
distent forest. Cranes were shooting upward,
circling. The stretched telegraph wires kept
bemg broken by posts into sections . . .

^ And with the shades of evening there crept
into Vasilissa’s heart an unaccountable nervous-
ness, depression. Not sadness, but sheerly
depression. What about? kVhence ? ^^^1T?

Even Vasilissa did not know.

IHmng these last few days things had been so

Free Love 19

bright at heart within her, so festive. She had got
ready for the journey. Hastily she had relin-
quished affairs. And suddenly everything had
made her regret that she was departing. Perhaps
she would not return.

Madame Fedoseiev had turned up. She had
embraced Vasilissa — ^yes, and burst into tears.
She had begun to apologise. It had been awk-
ward for Vasilissa. In her soul there had been no
enmity against Madame ; only, she had felt no

respect either for Madame or for those like her

Comrades had come to the station to see Vasilissa
off ; they had postponed a meeting of the
Zhilotdiel* (the train had been leaving in the
evening). From the Soviet, from the Partkom . . .
Vasilissa’s “ children ” from the “ house-com-
mune ” had brought her flowers ; they them-
selves had made them of paper . . .

And Vasilissa had realised that not for nothing
had she spent her strength, her health. The seed
had been sown . . . Something would sprout
thence ! . . .

The tears had welled up when the train had
moved away. Caps had been waved . . . Everyone
there had seemed so kind. It had hurt to part
with them . . .Yet the town had scarcely dis-
appeared, and, cheerfully to meet her, as though
trying to overtake the train, there had glimpsed
young copses and farm settlements, when Vasilissa
had forgotten the “ house-commune,” forgotten
the joys and sorrows with which she had lived
all the winter, and her thoughts run on ahead,

* Housing Department.

30 Free Love

outstripping thetrain Tohiin, to her desired one,
to her dear one, to her husband-comrade
Quicker, tram, quicker I Spare not steam 1
Why, you are bearing onward a warm, longing
woman s heart 1 lou are beanng onward, for
a gift to Yasia s beloved one, btowti ejes, Vasia’s
stedfastly loving, sensitive soul

For what reason, then, had Vasilissa now
become dejected ^ Whence had despondency
settled upon her heart ? The heart was com
pressed as with cold talons, and m the throat
there were humping themselves unaccountable
tears About what the melancholy ^ About
what ?

Perhaps about the fact that a streak of life had
just departed, that, with the house-commune,’
that streak had withdrawn, into the past, into the
irrecoverable, even as there were withdrawing
those strips of field which were covered with
vernal, tender amber The strips were departing
one after the other, and Vasilissa would never
see them again, never, never

She burst into tears Unobtrusively Quietly
She wiped away the tears — and at once things
became easier It was as though the cold little
clot of melancholy which had come upon her
heart had, with the tears, poured itself out upon
the new slart of the costume

They lit lamps in the car They curtained the
Windows And suddenly all became comfortable,
and not lonely

Clearly did Vasilissa realise, not with the
nund, but with the heart that, two nights more.

21

Free' Love

and she would see Volodia there. She would see,
embrace him . . . His voice revived in her mem-
ory. His warm lips, his firm hands.

With a sweet drowsiness languor ran through
her body, and now her eyes smiled . . . Had it not
been for the “ Nepman’s lady,” who was twisting
herself about before a mirror, Vasilissa could
have sung for joy. Loudly. Thus do birds sing
in spring.

The “ Nepman’s lady ” departed, slammed the
door loudly. The stupid woman ! . . . Vasilissa
closed her eyes, and thought of Volodia, of her
dear one.

She thought as though, page by page, all their
love was being recalled. For the fifth year they
“ were in love.” Actually ! The fifth year !
And as though yesterday had they met .... On
the other hand, it seemed : had there ever been
a time when Volodia had not been in her heart ?
Intimate, tender ?

She settled herself more comfortably into a
corner of the seat. She tucked her feet under her.
And she closed her eyes. The car rocked gently.
It sang a lullaby. And the thoughts ran on, ran

on . . .

She recalled memories. How had it all hap-
pened ? How had they met for the first time ?

At a meeting'. Not long before the October'
days. A feverish time had it been ! The
Bolsheviks — a mere handful. But, on the other
hand, how they had worked ! . . . The Mensheviks

•New Russia has boriowed the English word in this
connection.

22

Free hne

had been reigning, the S.-R.* bawlcrs * . *
They had hamed, almost beaten, the Bolsheviks,
the " German spies,” the ** sellers of country ;
jet daily, lai^er, larger the group had become.
They themseUes had not known well what would
happen next, but they had understood one thing ;
that It was necessarj to obtain peace, and to expel
from the Soviets all “ patnot traitors.” That had
been clear. And they had fought. Stubbornly.
Heatedly. With faith. Wthout concessions.
In the eyes of all there had glimpsed the determi-
nation, without words * to pensh, maybe, but not
to gi\ e waj ! . . Of self no one had thought. Had
that been a tune, indeed, for ” the individual ” ?

^^silissa recalled this, and continually saw,
not hcKelf, but the group Of her, in those days,
they written in the papers— S-R. papers,
Menshwk. Invented tales had slandered her,
had h^, had hissed . . Let them ” hiss ” to their
hearts content ! It had been, as it were, a
matter of course. And people had not been
mcrj-thing that was written about

wiA^c group, with the Bolsheviks.

tonsideration

w>h the ' Y “P

had removed *‘cproaches at home, \^asihssa

no reSirfor h ^ She had felt

^ L ® kinsfolk

Members of the S<«a] Revolanoimy Vuty

Free Love 23

had become strangers to her. Only one thing had
been in her mind : to win a Bolshevik victory.
It had been as though some force had pushed
her onward. One must not stop ! Though it
push one into the abyss, one must, all the same,
advance, one must, all the same, dispute, strive to
attain, fight . . .

Constantly the skirmishes had waxed hotter.
Constantly the air had become more incandescent
... A tornado was inevitable. From Peter » had
come items of news — a decision upon conventions,
speeches by Trotsky, summonses to a Soviet of
Petrograd , . .

It had been then that they had met. The
assemblage had been large. A hall packed to the
ceiling. People standing on the window-sills,
sitting on gangway floors. Difficult to breathe
. . . The meeting had been about what ? Vasilissa
could not remember , . . But clearly she could see
the Prassidium : as President there had, for the
first time, been chosen a Bolshevik, and the mem-
bers too had all been Bolsheviks, left S.-R.’s . . .
Amongst them a solitary Anarchist, known in the
town under the sobriquet of “ the American ” —
of a Co-operative. Vladimir.

She had seen him then for the first time. But
earlier she had heard much about him. Some had
rhapsodised about him, and said : “ There’s
a man for you 1 J/e can make people listen.”
Others had decried him : “ He’s just a braggart.”
But behind him there had stood the Co-operative
Bakers and a group of commercial employees.

' Popular abbreviation of St. Petenburg.

^4

These had needed to be reckoned with The
Bolsheviks had been delighted when he had
"put It across" the Mensheviks, and abused
him when he had opposed formation of groups .
What, then, did he want ? !

The secretarj of the Bolshevik group had dis-
liked him " A muddled brain one had best
keep as far as possible from such friends " But
Stepan Alcxemtch, the most respected of the
Bolsheviks of the town, had laughed into his
crev beard, and said, smiJinir “ Wait , do not

grey beard, ana sam, smiling wait , ao noi
nuny too much , from him there w ill j ct develop
a 6ne BoIshenL A fighting fellow 1 Only,
first let his American indiscretion evaporate "
Vasihssa had heard talk of him, but it had gone
past her cars Were there not many people now
^ coming into view ' of whom no one prcviousl)
had heard ^ They were no concern of hers 1
She had reached the meeting late Panting
She had just been speaking at the “ Bric^
DeMt ’ Everywhere there had been meetings ,
such the time had been And she had constituted

one of the ‘ orators " People listened to, liked
her They were pleased that a woman, a working-
woman, should speak And to the point, and
without ivasting her words Vasihssa had formed
for herself a style brief, but clear At once she
had received invitations

She had reached the meeting Straight to
the tribune Listed beforehand amongst the
speakers Comrade Urochkin (he was dead now
—killed at the Front) had plucked her by the

Free Love 2 c

“ A victory for us — Bolslieviks 'have got on
to the Prassidium . . . Two Left S.-R.’s and ‘ the
American ’ . . . The latter almost as good as a
Bolshevik. Presently he too is to speak.”

Vasilissa had glanced at “ the American,”
and, for some reason, been surprised. That, then,
was what an Anarchist was like 1 She would
have taken him for a “ barin.” Starched collar,
cravat, hair neatly combed and parted , . . Hand-
some. Eyelashes like darts . . . Just his turn to
speak. He had stood forth. He had cleared his
throat, put hand to mouth for the purpose . , .
“ Like a barin,” had determined Vasilissa, and,
for some reason, she had smiled.

His voice had been fine, suggestive, and he
had spoken long, and much entertained his
audience. And Vasilissa had smiled again . . .
The dandy Anarchist ! Vasilissa had applauded
him. And he, whilst returning to the table of the
Presidium, had inadvertently brushed against
her. He had turned round, and apologised. And
Vasilissa had reddened. And from the fact that
she had reddened she had felt more than ever
confused, and grown still more red. How
vexing ! But the ‘‘ Anarchist ” had not noticed
the fact. He had resumed his seat at the table,
carelessly rested elbows upon the back of a chair,
and lit up.

The President had leaned in his direction.
He had pointed to his cigarette — as who should
say that to smoke there was unbecoming. But
Vladimir had shrugged shoulders, and continued
to smoke. “ I mean to,” he had appeared to

26

in t

Free Love

iMif

) I'll

reply, “ and I will, and your prohibitions arc not
law to me,” He had taken two more whiffs,
perceived the President to be engaged with other
persons — and thrown his cigarette away.

Vasilissa remembered alt this. Then Vladimir
had grown interested m the meeting, and still
forborne to notice her. He had done so only w hen
her turn too had come, and she had begun her
speech.

That night she had spoken well. And though
she had stood with her back to him, she had felt
that ” the American ” \^-as looking at her. Pur-
Msely she had vaunted the Bolsheviks over the
Menshwks, the S-R.’s, and the Anarchists,
almough at that time she had not known clearly
what Anarchists were. She had tried to vex
he too much ” played the

“ the American ”
barm”. . .

Vasihssa recalled also how, in the middle of
her speech, a braid of her hair had slipped on to
a shoulder. In those days the braid had been fine,
round her head. She had declaimed,
and grown h^ted and hairpins had shed them-

bmidhadV . felt uncomfortable, for the
sept gi^ng It backward tosses

Cl, L J — W55CS.

" 7 ' iauuiiir to nerselt.

did not se^vnii ^^tentng to your speech I

upon ToursWd ■ t' fell

not an ontn understood that you were

Am * ***/ * • •

Ana so amusing as she

27

Free hove

grew distraught, yet still remained brave . , ,
She waved her hands about, and cursed the
Anarchists, whilst that braid untwined itself,
and curly little serpents spread themselves over
her back. Threads of gold they were like . . .
There and then I decided — I would make your
acquaihtance, Vasiuk ...”

Vladimir had told her this later, when now they
had become lovers. But at the meeting she had
not known it. She had ended her speech, and
hastened to replait the braid. Urochkin had
picked up the hairpins.

“ Thank you, comrade.”

It had been awkward thus, with everyone
looking on. She had been afraid to glance at
“ the American ” again ; he had probably
remarked it all, criticised her. She had felt
vexed, somehow, and been angry with him. Yet
what mattered to her “ the American ” ?

The meeting had come to an end, and the
people began to disperse, when “ the American ”
had halted.

“ Let me present myself ...” And he had
named himself, and those whose representative
he was. He had pressed her hand. And he had
praised her speech. And Vasilissa had reddened
again. They had conversed, disputed. She on
behalf of the Bolsheviks, he on behalf of the
Anarchists. With the crowd, they had issued
into the street. Rain, wind.

A conveyance from the Co-operative had been
waiting there. The Anarchist had offered
Vasilissa a lift home. She had accepted. They

28 Z.£»vtf

had seated themselves. Dark imder the lowered
hood of the conveyance it had been. They
had sat close together; the conveyance had
been narrow. As the horse had trotted along
It had splashed through poddies with its
hooves . . .

And Vasdissa and Vladimir had ceased to
dispute. They had hushed They had fallen
quite silent Both had been grave in soul, and
also joyful . . . They had not known that mean-
while love was achierving birth in them.

They had talked, next, of trifles — of the rain,
of the fact that to-morrow, again, there would be
a meeting — at the “ Soap Depot ” in the daytime,
a convention of the Cooperative; and, in soul,
things had been so bright, so festive . , .

They had reached Vasilissa’s building. They
had taken leave of one another. And both had
felt sorry that they had arrived so soon. But both
had forborne to say this.

“ And have you not wet your feet ? Vladimir
had asked solicitously.

" I ? ” Vasihssa had been surprised, and, for
some reason, pleased. The first tune in her life,
this, that anyone had given her such a thought,
showed anxiety about her . . . And she had
smiled, flashing even, white teeth . , . And
Vladimir there and then had wanted to gather
her into an embrace, and kiss those white, wet,
level teeth . . ,

The wicket had rattled ; the porter had
admitted Vasihssa into the building

*' Until to-morrow, at the Co-operattve — do not

Free ' Love

29

forget. The meeting begins at two o’clock pre-
cisely. With us — ^the American way.”

Vladimir had taken off^is soft hatj and speeded
Vasilissa with a low bow. And she had turned
about in the wicket, lingered . . . Almost
as though she had been expecting something
more.

The wicket had slammed. Vasilissa — alone
in the dark little forecourt. And at once her
“ festival ” had ceased . . . Restlessly, longingly
her heart had thrilled. With vexation about
something . . . With regret for something.

And she had seemed so small, so unwanted by
anyone . . .

Now she was sitting in the train. Under her
head she had placed a scarf for a pillow. She did
not doze off, yet seemed to be seeing visions . . .
The past. Her love. As in a cinema : reel after
reel, picture after picture. Joy and sorrow, all
that had been experienced with Vladimir, with
Volodika ... It was good to remember 1 And
the old pain in the memory was only pleasant now.
T^e» it had been a torment, but now it was, rather,
agreeable ! . , , She settled herself more com-
fortably. The train rocked. It sang a lullaby.
Delightful !

Vasilissa beheld the convention of the Co-
operative. Bustling, vociferous, restless. The
bakers a turbulent, insistent, uncompromising
group. Their president, Vladimir. He alone
could hold them in check. With difficulty, yet,
for all that, with success. On his forehead the
veins had swelled with the effort, but he had

30 Lave

insisted upon his waj He had not seen Vasilissa
arnve, seat herself unobtrusively against a wall,
look about her

They had passed a resolution of non-conndence
in the Temporary Government, and that the
Co-operative be made over into the hands of the
workers And they had chosen then and there
their management shareholders, members of the
town duma, and bourgeois had been deleted, and
those persons’ deposits annulled Thenceforth
the Co-operative was not to be a " town Co-
operative, but one of bakers and commercial
cmplo>ees in co-operation

But the Mensheviks also had not been sleeping
They had sent creatures of theirs to warn him
whom It concerned

The meeting had begun to disperse, and the
only thing remaining had been to mstal the man-
agement. Suddenly, at the doors ** OK, pray let
you enjoy yourselves 1 ” 1 A Commissar — a Men-
shevik, a chief ** authority ” in the town, a hench-
man of Kerensky’ s And, behind him, the leaders
of the Mensheviks and the S -R ’s "Vladimir had
seen them, and a subtle spark had danced m his
eyes

Comrades I 1 declare the meetmg dosed
It remains only to mstal the management of the
Co-operauveof Revolutionary Bakers To-morrow
a general assembly for consideration of business
But, for the moment — to your homes ”
Vladimir’s voice had had in it a calm,
assmed note The audience had nsen noisily
Stop I Stop, comrades I ” had rung out the

Free Love 3 1

choleric voice of the Commissar. “ I beg that
you do not dissolve the convention.”

“ Gospodin Commissar, you have arrived too
late. Already the convention stands dissolved.
However, if you wish to acquaint yourself with
our resolutions — here, if you please, they are.
We had arranged to send you a deputation, for
negotiations . . . But here you have come in
person. That is better still. It was quite time
you taught us that it is only the proper revolution-
ary thing for chinovniks themselves to do the
running about with reports, and the making of
enquiries into working-class organisations.”

Wadimir had stood so wholly unperturbed as
he had collected his papers ; but his eyes had,
under their dartlike lashes, danced “ like the
devil,” laughed . . .

“ Hear, hear 1 Hear, hear ! ” had rolled
through the hall. Many had laughed. The
Commissar had tried to protest. He had ap-
proached close to Vladimir, grown excited,
thrown himself about. And Vladimir had held
his ground as one so wholly not to be upset ; only
his eyes had smiled, and his voice sounded loud
and incisive. Through all the hall had his words,
his replies to the Commissar, been borne . . .
The audience had guffawed. It had applauded
Vladimir. It had been very pleased when
Vladimir also had invited the Commissar to an
evening function, for supervision of passage of
the Co-operative from the bourgeois to the bakers.

“ A fine fellow, ‘ the American ’ ! He doesn’t
need to search his pocket for a word ! ”

32

So the Commissar had failed to score. He had
threatened, next, to “ use force,”

” Try 1 " had snapped Vladimir, flashing his
eyes, and the hall had assented with “ Yes, try I
Try 1” ...

Things in the hall had become menacing. The
Commissar and his fellow Mensheviks had slid
out through a side door.

But in the hall the din had persisted. Instal-
ment of the management had been postponed
until evening. It had been necessary first to get
a snack Those present had grown famt. They
had sat since morning. Vasilissa too had moved
away towards the exit with the crowd. But as
she had done so she had seen fixed before her eyes
only Vladimir Imperturbable, with a smile in
his e)es . . . And so unlike everyone else m
his smart blue jacket. But no longer had he
seemed to her a “ barm,” To-day she had felt
him to be " one of us.” Why not a Bolshevik ?
And a bold one Such an one would stick at
nothing If necessary — ^he would face a bullet ;
no matter was it that he wore a starched collar
. . . And suddenly there had been bom in
Vasilissa, not the thought, but the wish ; trustfully
to lay her hand in Vladimir’s great hand. Then
she would have someone with whom to walk in
life. Side by side. Joyfully, confidently . . ,
Yet what could she mean for such a man as
Vladimir ^ . Vasilissa had compared herself

with Vladimir, and sighed. Handsome, he had
seen much, been in Amenca . . . And she ?
. . . Plain, an ignoramus, she had seen nothing

Free Love 33

outside of her Province ... As if he was likely
to turn his attention to her ! . . . See how to-day
he had not remarked her ...

But Vasilissa had scarcely thought this when
she had heard Vladimir’s voice beside her say :

“ My respects. Comrade Vasilissa, So we
have quite teased Gospodin Commissar into a
sweat ? . . May that become the usual way !
. . , He will come here no more. Be reassured !
And we will send him our resolutions just for his
information.”

Volodia had been so animated, all glowing with
the affair. And he had infected Vasilissa. They
had talked. Both had laughed. Pleased. If
only some comrades had not dragged Volodia
away, they would have stood longer on the
threshold, and kept on longer about the Commis-
sar and the resolutions.

“ Well, no help for it. I must go ... I
cannot be longer with you. Comrade Vasilissa . . .”
And in his voice Vasilissa had heard regret.
Joyfully her heart had quivered, and she had
raised to him her brown eyes, caressing, atten-
tive ... In them the soul of Vasilissa had been
shining.

Vladimir had looked at them. He had become
hushed, as though sinking into them all his self.

“ Comrade Vladimir I What are you thinking
of ? Do not delay us ; we have business to the
neck.”

“ I will come.”

Hastily he had pressed Vasilissa’s hand, and
departed.

Dl

34 Free Love

And Vasihssa had i^ralked onward through the
town ; she herself had not known whilhcr . . .
She had not seen the streets, she had not seen the
people . . . Only Volodia. ^ ^ ^

Such an one had never before been in Vasihssa s

company.

Evening. A winter one. Frosty. Clear.
Stars glittering in the sk) Many. And snOW,
clean, white, fresh. It had co^c^cd the streets,
overlaid roofs and fences, adorned the trees with
Its downy flakes ...

Vasihssa and Vladimir had been returning
from a session of the Soviet. October — late.
Power now m the hands of the Soviet. They had
ejected the Mensheviks and the Right S.-R-’s.
There had remained onl} the ** Internationalists."
The group had guided throughout. The influence
of the Bolsheviks had been growing. All the
workers had been with the Bolsheviks, And
some of the bourgeois against, and some priests
and officers The Soviet had been carrjing on
a struggle with these. Life had not yet become
readjusted, the revolutionary waves had not
jet subsided. In the town — patrols of Red
Guard ... Shootings had been recurring. But,
seemingly, the most difficult stage had been left
behind,

Vastlissa and Yladunw had been recalling to

Free Love

one another the days when “ we had seized
power.” Vladimir’s bakers it had been who then
had saved the situation. Determined lads 1
Vadimir had been proud of them. From them
had he passed to the Soviet. Vasilissa and
Vadimir had been walking side by side ; in the
street it had been quiet. Only patrols of Red
Guard had kept asking for the parole. And on
Vladimir, on his sleeve, there had been a red
bandage, and, on his head, a fur cap, for he too
had been enrolled in the workers’ Guard. He
had been under fire, too. That sleeve had been
shot through, near the shoulder . . . He had shown
it to Vasilissa. Although they had seen one
another frequently at that period, they had been
unable to converse — always there had been
insufficient time. But to-day they had issued
together, without previous arrangement. And at
once, in their souls — a festival. They had wanted
to say much, much to one another, as though old
friends had met to have a chat about everything
. . . Yet suddenly both had become silent. And it
had been as though things then had become
better still . . . Even more joyful, even more inti-
mate. They had passed Vasilissa’s home. They
had not remarked it. Already the outskirts of a
suburb. Then market gardens had begun . . .
To think of where they had landed ! They had
stopped. They had expressed surprise. They
had given way to laughter. They had stood,
looked at the sky. Stars had been glowing, ever
pouring themselves out. Good ! So light of
soul ! Youth. Vigour.

j6 Lcve

*' In our village there used to be no dock, so
we learnt the time from the stars . . . My father,
in particular, knew the stars well. He could tell
the twue exactly,”

Vladimir had spoken of his childhood. The
family had been numerous, the mSnage a peasant
one, poor. Of everything there had been a lack.
Volodia had wished to educate himself. But the
school had been a distant one. He had, of himself,
made an agreement with the pnest*s daughter ;
he had tended their geese, and she had taught him
his letters.

Vladimir had recalled the village, his native
fields, woods . . . And he had suddenly become all
soft and pensive.

“ Ah, what a man 1 ” Vasilissa had been sur-
prised. And he had, from that moment, become
still dearer.

kHadimir, earlier, had gone out to America.
He had told her how he had gone thither as a
youth, and resolved to make his own road. For
two years he had served on a transport ship*.
Then he had worked at a port. He had partici-
pated in a strike He had been *' given his
ticket’ in consequence He had managed to
get to another State He had starved. He had
lived upon such labour as had come his way. He
had been a packer in a large, smart hotel . . . The
wealth that he had seen there 1 . . . And the
women 1 ... In tulle, silks, diamonds . . . He had
^^ed as commissionaire at a fashionable store.
Ihey had paid him well. Uniforms with
galloons They had valued his height and figure.

Free Love 37

It had wearied him. Already his heart had been
seething with rage against all those rich cus-
tomers ! . . He had tried chauiFeuring. He had
travelled about America with an opulent dealer
in cotton — driven him in a fine motor-car for
hundreds of versts . . . And this too had wearied
him. It too had been slavery . . . Through the
dealer he had entered the cotton business, become
a clerk . . . And he had begun to attend courses
on bookkeeping . . . And then — ^the Revolution !
He had thrown up everything, flown to Russia.
Already, whilst in America, he had belonged to
an organisation. He had been in prison because
of a collision with the police. The cotton trader
had stood up for him. He had valued him as a
chauffeur. He had known that he was an
Anarchist, and respected him. And he had gone
surety for him. America had been otherwise
than Russia ! . . .

In his own way Vladimir had liked America.

They had walked, walked through the streets.
Vasilissa had listened, but Vladimir there had
been no stopping ! It had been as though he
wished to disclose all his life to Vasilissa at once . . .
Again they had reached the wicket where Vasilissa
dwelt.

“ But may I not visit you, and drink tea.
Comrade Vasilissa ? ” Vladimir had queried. — In
his throat all had been dry . . . Nor had he any
longer wished for bed.

Vasilissa had taken thought. By now, probably,
her woman friend had retired.

“ Never mind ; we will wake her up. We will

3 $ Free Love

take tea, all three of us, and that will be merrier
still."

That v^ould be so. Why should she not invite
“ the American ” within ? She herself did not
want to part from him. Such " friends ” they
had become J

They had entered. They had set out the
samovar, Vladimir had assisted,

“ Always one should help ladies. In America
that was an accepted thing with us."

They had seated themselves to tea. They had
jested. They had vexed the woman friend by
arousing her from bed, and she had blinked her
eyes with drowsiness.

All had been well m Vasilissa’s soul. Cheerful.

And Vladimir again had talked of America.
Of the women, such beauties, in silken stockings,
who had driven up to the smart store in motor-
cars, when he, m lace galloons and three-cornered
hat With feather, had been standing at the doors
as commissionaire. One woman had thrust upon
him a note, and named an appointment . . . He
had not gone 1 He bad not cared for “ women-
folk.” Such trouble they were I . . . Another
woman had given him a rose . . ,

Vasihssa had listened to Vladimir’s stories of
the American beauties in silken stockings : and
it had seemed to her as though she herself were
becoming ever less and less, and ever plainer . . ,

The joy in her heart had dimmed. And
Vasihssa had frowned.

"But surely you were in love with those
beauties ^ ’’ Vasihssa’s voice had been hoarse

Free Love 39

she spoke. Then she had been angry with
herself for having made such a slip.

Vladimir had looked at her. Attentively.
Caressingly. And he had shaken his head.

‘\My heart and my love, Vasilissa Demen-
tievna, I have all my life guarded. Only to a pure
woman will I give them. Whereas those ladies
were what .? Wantons. Worse than prostitutes.”

And again joy had rolled upon her heart, and
become fixed there again without leaking thence.

He had guarded his heart for a pure woman ?
. . . But surely she, Vasilissa, was no longer
“ pure ” ? . . . Passion had entangled her with
Petia Razgulov, of the Machinery Depot, until he
had gone to the Front . . . Later, too, there had
.been the Party organiser ; she had accounted
him her betrothed . . . He too had departed. He
had ceased to write. And she had forgotten
him.

What was to happen now ? . , “ Only a pime
woman ” 1 . . .

Vasilissa had looked at Vladimir. She had
listened, but not heard. Such the pain at her
heart 1 . . . And Vladimir had decided that he was
wearying her with his tales.

He had interrupted himself, risen. He had
taken leave so hurriedly. Coldly.

Tears had welled to Vasilissa’s throat . . .
She could have flung herself upon his neck 1 . .
But was she necessary to him ? He had seen
what beauties ! . . . And he was guarding his heart
for a ” pure woman.” . . .

Vasilissa had wept the night through. She

40 Free Levs

had decided to avoid “ the American “ ; that
they should not meet. What was she to him ?

He was guarding his heart for a “ pure
woman ”... ^

Vasihssa had deaded to avoid ” the American,”
but life had decided — ^to bring them together
more closely still. ^

Recently Vasihssa had gone to attend the
^mmittee, and a dispute had been in progress

Pnm ■ f necessat}' to appoint a new

Commandant of the town. Some hid proposed

Ss?** 7 Secretary of the Partkom

t£ Even as it was,

He waf H ” “ the American.”

We was dninng about. Idee a Governor, in his

h?s° o^'lw ® Co-operative, and wearing

t^s cap awry He was terrorising the inhabi?

Again there K K * recognised no discipline.
wSnot nK. complaints of him : he

observing decrees in the Co-operative.

for Vladimir. It had
they should so spcJfc of hbi

for Vladuni,. tTh A^'Sdtoid

Snen vote against Vladimir; six "for.”

Free Love

41

Well, no lielp for it ! In a measure Vladimir
himself had been responsible. Terribly he had
ridden the high horse.

But Vladimir had, all the same, been vexed.
Why did they not trust him He was heart and
soul for the Revolution. He had learnt of the
Committee’s decision. He had flown into a rage.
He had cursed the Bolsheviks of set purpose.

“ The ‘ Imperialists,’ they 1 ” “ The ‘ Cen-
tralists ’ 1 ” “ They want to introduce a police

rdgime ! ”

He had impcalcd to America, where, in season
and out of it, his “ News of the World of
Workers ” stuck out everj^wherc. The Com-
mittee had seethed. It had demanded that
Vladimir should “ subordinate himself to the
Directives "...

Daily the feud had intensified. Vasilissa had
worried. She had stood up for Vladimir, and
disputed to the point of hoarseness.

The matter had, finally, reached the Soviet.
Again the Co-operative had not fulfilled a decree.

And Vladimir had hammered out the one
thing :

“ I do not recognise police measures. Every
institution should be its own master. Discipline
I care not a rap for that ‘ discipline ’ of yours , . .
It W'as not for that that we made the Revolution,
and shed blood, and drove out the bourgeois —
ourselves to fall into a new' net. What com-
manders we have got . . . We can command
ourselves ...”

They had disputed, shouted . . .

41 Free Love

** If you do not give way, we will exclude you
from the Soviet,” had threatened the President,
Only try I ” And Vladimir had flashed his
eyes. In that case I should call out all my young
bakers from the Militia I . . . Who then would
defend you ? You would very quicUy fall under
the heel of the bourgeois. And )our precious
Soviet would go the same road. Not a Soviet is
It at all, but a police command . , .

Vasilissa’s heart had contracted Ah 1 Why
had be spoken thus ^ . . Now — ^they would fall
upon him And Vasilissa had not been wrong.

The assembly had boiled up.

What ? Insult the Soviet ? . . , Wadunir
had stood there pialc He had defended himself.
And around him they bad buzzed, pushed . . .

“ Expel him I Arrest him ! Throw out the
scoundrel 1 . , . "

Thanks had been due to Stepan Alexcivitch.
He had extneated him He had proposed to
Vladimir to withdraw into a neighbouring room,
and let the Soviet consider the “ inadent " in his
absence.

Vladimir had departed. And Vasilissa after
him. She had been vexed. ^Vhy had he so
" congealed his folly ” ^ Then she had taken her
rage to the Soviet. Could a man bejudged merely
by his words ? Let them judge him by his deeds.
Everyone knew how Vladimir stood for soviets :
if he had not done so then, m October, the
Bolsheviks would not have survived at all . . .
It was he who had forced the Mayor to flee the
town, and brought out the " recalatrants ” into

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43

the streets : “ Now, then ! Rake away the
snow ! ”

Why, then, exclude him from the Soviet ?
For a heated word ?

Vasilissa, agitated, had returned to the room
which was situated behind the Prsesidium.
Vladimir had been sitting at the table, and resting
his head upon a hand. Gloomy.

He had raised his long-lashed eyes to her, and
in them there had been pain, weariness, and
offence. Such, he had seemed to her suddenly
young and helpless, like a wronged child.

And Vasilissa’s heart had become submerged
in tender pity. She would have spared nothing
so long as her dear one might not have suffered 1

“ Have your ‘ Imperialists ’ taken fright }
Vladimir had begun jauntily. “ Have they lost
courage at my threat Well, it has not yet beefn
carried out.” And, with that, he had broken off.

Vasilissa had gazed at him so warmly ; in her
eyes reproach.

“ You are not in the right, Vladimir Ivanovitch
. . . You are injuring yourself 1 . . . Now,
why did you say that ? ... It has made you
seem to be going against the Soviet.”

“_And go against it I will if the Soviet comes
to stand in place of a police body,” Vladimir had
persisted.

“ Why say what you do not think ? ” . . — ^and
Vasilissa had moved closer to him. And as a
sister had she looked at him — kindly, but gravely.

Vladimir had gazed into her eyes. He had
said nothing.

44

“ Do you yourself acknowledge that you lost
your temper ? . . " ^

Vladimir had lowered his head,

“ It burst from me . . , They angered me."
And again he had gazed into Vasilissa’s eyes,
like a boy who confesses to a mother.

“ Now one cannot put it straight again . . .
Everything is lost ! , , " And he had waved
his hand. She had gone right up to him Her
heart had been torn with pain-tenderness He
had now become so akm to her. She had placed
a hand upon his head, and stroked it,

“ Enough, Vladimir Ivanovitch I . . . Why
faint in soul ? And an Anarchist at that 1 . .
This will not do, Vladimir ! . . One must
believe in oneself One must not let oneself be
in the wrong before people.”

Vasilissa had stood over Vladimir — stroked his
head like a little one’s, and he had pressed his
headf ’ ’ ■■ ■' " *’ ' ■■ ■'

of he . ■ ■

to ha

** 1 am m distress Many times has life beaten
me. I had thought that the Revolution, the
comrades . . Everything now was to be
otherwise."

“ And so everything shall be 1 . , . Only, one
must act properly, in the comradely way."

" No longer * things will never again go
properly ... I cannot get on with people,"

“ You can 1 I believe in you 1 ” . . ,

And Vasihssa had raised Vladimir's head
gazed into his e}es as though infusing all her

Free Love

45

faith into her regard . . . But in Vladimir’s
eyes there had been only trouble and depression
. . . Vasilissa had bent down, and tenderly
kissed Vladirtiir’s hair.

“ We must smooth over this matter . . . You
ought- to apologise . . . Tell them that you
lost your temper . . . They did not under-
stand you ...”

“Very well,” submissively Vladimir had agreed.
And suddenly he had gathered all of her into his
embrace, pressed her to his heart until he hurt
her . . . With warm lips had he caught at those
of Vasilissa . . .

Vasilissa had run to the stairway leading to the
Praesidium. Straight to Stepan Alexeivitch. Thus
and thus. It was necessary to extricate Vladimir
Ivanovitch.

They had smoothed over the incident.

But the hostility to Vladimir had remained.
There had formed themselves in the Soviet two
camps. The bright, friendly days were over . . .

Vasilissa had no wish to think further. But
her thoughts ran on. There was no stopping
them . . .

How had they come together } It had been
soon after the “ incident ” in the Sovet. Vladi-
mir had escorted her home. By now they had
always issued together. The one had always

^6 Free Love

sought the other And whence cr thcj had been
left in companjf they had been at “ thou ” *
Vasihssa’s woman fnend had proved not to be
at home And at once Vladimir had taken Vasi-
hssa into his arms, and started to kiss her * .
Ardently, ardently And now Vasilissa recalled
his kisses But she had freed herself from his
arms She had withdrawn, and then looked him
in the eyes

** Volodia 1 Do not kiss me ... 1 do
not want deception *’

He had not understood her, and been sur-
pnsed

“ Deception ? Do you suppose that I
wish to deceive you ? Do not jou see that I have
loved you from the first meeting ? . . . ”

“ It 15 not that 1 It IS not that, Volodia I . .
I trust }ou But 1 Stop I , Do not
kiss me 1 You mean, do you not, to give }our
heart only to ‘ a pure woman ’ ? . I am not

‘ a pure woman,' Volodia , I have had lovers . .**
She had spoken, and then shi\ ered , . See, see
how all her happiness was about to be dissipated
" I have noming to do with your lovers I ”
Vladimir had broken in “ You are mine ! . .

A purer being than you, Vasia, there is not in the
World You are pure m soul ”

He had pressed her to his heart so strongly, so
hotly

“ lou love me, then, Vasia ? It is true that
^-ou love me ^ Well, )X(U are mme ! .

IS tt> say, they bad osed the famihar second person
singular mode of address

Free Love

47

Mine ! . . And no one else’s any more. And
of your lovers, do you hear ? ,Never again dare
to recall them. And do not speak to me of them
... I do not want to know ! I do not want ! , .
You are mine for good now ! . . ”

Thus had their nuptial life begun.

By this time, in the railway coupe, it was dark.
The “Nepman’s lady” laid herself down, scenting
the car with flowery eau-de-Cologne. Unobtru-
sively Vasilissa stretched herself upon the upper
bunk. She would go to sleep . . . No, she did not
go to sleep. Ever she kept recalling the past.

It was as though adding up a sum. Why that
sum All her life still lay ahead 1 And love was
animate still. And happiness was in front . . .
But somewhere in a corner of her heart Vasilissa
was conscious that the past no longer existed. '
The happiness of what had taken place then,
four years ago, had ceased to be 1 . . . And the
love was not the same, and Vasilissa herself not
the same.

Why was that ? Who was responsible
Vasilissa, as she lay, clasped her hands behind
her head. She meditated. During all these years
she had never had time to meditate. She had
lived. She had worked. But now, it seemed,
there was something which she had not “ thought
out,” she had passed over . . . Disagreements
in the Party. Mischief-makings in the institu-
tions . . .

. At that time, in the beginning, all had been
otherwise. And Volodia had been different.

True, there had been no little trouble Mth him.

48

Ever
But '

TraSO . p ■ 1 p I I

There had begun a forward movement of the
Whites. The town had been threatened. Vladi-

Ctlicc^ had not

... ~ “ First

r taken a

high line ... He had argued ... He had
enrolled himself.

And he had become a “ Bolshevik.*’ He had
dcMrted.

They had written little to one another. He
had paid flying visits for a day, for two. And
again for weeks, whole months, they had been
apart. Thus, seemingly, it had had to be. Nor
had things been tedious. They had not had time
for that. And suddenly Vasilissa had Jeamt in
the Committee : a case was being got up against
Vladimir. What did it mean ? He was working
in the Supplies Department. He was said to have
indulged in dissipation, got aifairs into a mess,
proved “ not clean of hand.”

Vasilissa had seethed. ” Not true 1 I do not
believe it I " It was intrigue. Mischief-making.
Calumny.

She had rushed to make enquiries. The
matter had smelt grave. It was not yet under
judgment, but they had suspended him from work.
She had besought Stepan Alexeisdtch that they
should give her a pass to the Front (to convey
gifts thither), and within three days had made
her preparations.

Free Love

49

She had set forth. It had been difficult to
get there. Everywhere there had been checks,
non-connection of trains. She had been unable
to procure documents. The trucks with the gifts
had not been shunted . . . She had been driven
to distraction. Her soul had fainted with worry.
For had the “ case ” suddenly come up for
judgment Only then had Vasilissa understood
how much she loved Vladimir, how dear he was
to her . . . And she had believed in him as in
a man — believed in him 1 . . . The more that
others had not believed in him (thought him an
“ Anarchist,” and therefore capable of anything
base), the more stubbornly had Vasilissa stood up
for him. No one knew his soul as she, Vasilissa,
did 1 . , Volodia had a soul as “ tender ” as a
woman’s ! — He only seemed to be rude and
truculent . . . Vasilissa knew that by kindness
and persuasion he could be turned to anything

that he was hot-tempered, well, that was
true ! His life had not been a pleasant one — ^it
had been proletarian.

Vasilissa had reached Staff Headquarters.
With difficulty she had learnt where Vladimir was
lodging. She had had to thread her way through
all the town in pouring rain. Luckily, a comrade
had accompanied her.

She had been tired, thoroughly chilled . . .
But she had been glad also : she had learnt that
examination of the “ case ” was not ended. Of
real evidence there was none. Opinions in the
Special Department were divided. Rximours,

El

good

But

£0 Fr(e Love

denunciations • She had felt troubled only
when they had looked at one another with an ugly
smile on her calling herself outright a “ wife ”
It had been as though they were hiding something
And It had been necessary to learn of everything,
to the end So, later, she had gone to Comrade
Toporkov himself, who had arrived from the
Centre He had known Vladimtr m connection
with work Let them cease from the “ bait-
ing ” 1 Why were they so harrying him ^
For what ^ Others had been Mensheviks,
S 's — ^yet, by heavens, they had not been
“ baited ’ How was an Anarchist worse f

They had reached the little wooden house in
which Vladimir was lodging In the windows a
light But the door of the porch barred The
comrade had knocked, the comrade who had
accompanied Vasilissa No one had answered
And Vasilissa’s feet had been wet to her ankles
And all of her had become soaked, frozen Not
so much of the joy of meeting had she been think-
ing as of getting into a warm room, and changing
her clothes, stockings Five days in the

tram, almost without sleep

‘Let us tap at a wmdow,*' the comrade had
decided

They had broken off a bough from a birch-
tree, and set themselves to rap at a window pane
with the bough

The curtain had been drawn aside, and
Vasilissa had seen Volodia’s head, and conceived
that he was weanng only an undershirt He had
peered out into the darkness And behind his

Free- hove

ST-

shoiilder there had been a woman’s head . . .
It had glimmered, and hidden itself.

It had seemed to Vasilissa as though something
in her heart had dried up . . . Uncomfortably
even to nausea.

“ Open, now, comrade I I have brought you
your wife.”

The curtain had swung back into place, and
concealed Vladimir and the woman. Vasilissa
and her escort had stepped up on to the verandah.
They had waited again. Why so long ? It had
seemed to Vasilissa endless.

The door had opened — at last. Vasilissa had
found herself in Vladimir’s embrace. He had
clasped, kissed her . . . His face had been so
joyful 1 . . . Even tears in his eyes . . .

“ You have come 1 You have come to me 1
My friend I My comrade, Vasia ! ”

“ At least take your things : what can I do
with them ? ” sulkily the escorting comrade had
reminded her.

“ Let all of us come into my place . . . We
will have supper. By heavens, you are wet ?
Frozen ? ”

They had entered Vladimir’s lodging. Bright.
Neat. Dining-room — bedroom beyond. In the
dining-room a “ Sister ” had been sitting at the
table, in a white scarf — a red chevron on her
sleeve. Good-looking. And again Vasilissa’s
heart had suffered a stab. And Vladimir had
made them acquainted.

“ Let me introduce you. Sister Varvara. This
is my wife, Vasilissa Dementievna.”

^2 Free Love

They had given one another hands, and stead-
fastly regarded one another. They had seemed
to be proving something.

“Now, what of yon, Vasia? Change your
clothes ! . . You are mistress here. Do you see
how well I live ? Better than in your garret.
Give me your cloak . . . How wet it is . . . I
must hang it over the stove."

The Sister had remained standing — she had
not sat down.

“ Now, Vladimir Ivanovitch — let us talk
matters again to-morrow. But for the present I
would raSief not disturb your family happiness,"

She had pressed Vasilissa’s hand, and Vladi-
mir’s, and departed with the comrade who had
accompanied Vasihssa thither.

Then Vladimir had caught Vasihssa into his
arms, earned her about the room, caressed her,
kissed her — been overjoyed.

And Vasihssa too had grown lighter of soul.
She had felt ashamed of herself. But amid the
kisses she had, all the same, shot out the question :

“ Who was that Sister ? "

Then she had thrown back her head, the better
to see Vladimir’s ej’cs

“That Sister? ^

out of a hospital .
for huny . . 1

though I have been set aside from work, they
cannot get on without me The least thing —
and they come to me.”

And he had gone on to talk of the “ case,” of
that which was worrying both of them He had

Free Love

S3

deposited Vasilissa upon the floor. They had
moved towards the bedroom. And again Vasi-
lissa had received a stab — the bed had been made
very untidily, as though people had replaced upon
it the coverlet in haste. She had glanced at
Vladimir. And he had laid a hand behind his
back (a habit of his, familiar, and therefore dear),
and paced the room. He had talked of his “ case ”
— ^how it had happened, and from what it had
begun. Vasilissa had listened, and felt offended
wiQi Vladimir. She had divined : trouble and
envy. Pure was her Volodia. She knew that.
It could not be otherwise.

She had got out stockings from her valise, but .
had no shoes to change to. What, then ?

Vladimir had noticed this.

“ Ah, the woman 1 Not even an extra pair of
shoes has she got 1 . . Well, I must provide
you with the leather. Our cobbler shall make you
some, for your dear little self 1 And now, suppose
I take off your shoes in person ? The wetness
of them 1 ”

He had pulled off the shoes, thrown Vasilissa’s
wet stockings on to the floor, and taken her cold
feet into his warm hands.

“ What feet you have got — ^the little toys
that they are ! Ah, you are my own Vasiuk 1
My beloved.” And he had bent down, and
kissed both her feet.

“ Come, come, you I Volodia 1 Foolish fellow 1 ”
But she had smiled. And again lightness in her
soul.

She loved him 1 She loved him! She loved him I

Tbej- had drunk tea They had talked They
had conferred Vladimir had been so confidential
— told her all how that he had been insolent at
wrong times, fired up, not fulfilled instructions,
gone his own way, failed to submit to ** decrees *’
And he had “made mistakes” in not
letting “ worthless fellows ” take a part in the
work But as for “ uncleanness of hand
surely Vasilissa did not suppose, believe, such a
thing ^ Vladumr had stood before her, breathed
fast, altogether boiled up

" As if j'ou could thmk it I You, Vasia ? .

" Not ^at exactly, Volodia, but I have been
afraid as to what accountancy you keep ?

Do they make strict examination now ? *

" There is no cause to worry about my account-
ancy Those who ha\c contn\cd the ‘ case *
will score a ‘ miss ' My accountancy is like a
crystal Not for nothing did I study book-keeping
in America '*

All the weight had rolled from Vasilissa*s heart
Now she would need merely to see, to deal with,
the comrades, and explain to them the how and
what

” My dever little one, to think that you have
come I ” Vladumr bad said ” I had not dared
expect you I know how busy you have been
there No tunc fo- husband, I had thought to
myself — no time for Volodika I

” My darling 1 Do not you know that I

Free Love

I 55

cannot rest when you are at a distance ? . . .
Always here, in my heart, there is gnawing the
thought : ‘ What is he doing ? How is he ?
May not something have befallen him ? ’ ”

“ You are as good as my guardian angel, Vasia.
I know it.” He had spoken so gravely, and then
kissed Vasilissa. And his eyes had suddenly
become mournful, pensive. “ I am not worthy
of you, Vasia . . . Only, I love you more than
an;^hing in the world ! Do not you believe it ?
I love only you 1 Only you ... All else is
dross ...”

Vasilissa had not understood him at the
time. She had merely been surprised that for
some reason he was now very “ heated ” and
uneasy.

They had gone into the bedroom. It had been
time to retire. Vasilissa had begun to straighten
the bed, and turned back the coverlet. What
could that be ? In her temples there had been
a rapping . . . Her legs had trembled. A
woman’s bloodstained bandage . . . On the sheet
a stain of blood.

“ Volodia ! . . . Whatis Ais.?”_

It had burst from her not in a voice, but in a
groan.

Vladimir had darted to the bed. With anger
he had dashed the bandage upon the floor.

“ That wretched caretaker ! I presume she
has been taking a rest here without my leave . . .
She has stained the bed ...” He had sent the
sheet flying to the floor.

“ Vladimir ! . . ”

^6

Vasilissa had stood with eyes wide-open, and,
in them, Vasilissa's soul.

Vladimir had looked at them, and held his

toneue.

Volodia ! . . - Why this ? Why ?

Vladimir had collapsed against the bed. He
had wrung his hands . . ,

" All is ruined 1 All is ruined 1 But I swear
to you, Vasia, that I love only you, j-ou alone I .

“ Then why have you done this ? Why did
you not spare our love ?...**

** Vasia 1 . , I am young . . . For months

alone , . , They, the base creatures, beguile
me ... I hate them . - - All, all 1 Oh, those
womenfolk 1 . They stick ...”

He had stretched out his hands to her, and
tears had tnckicd over his checks, such large
ones,' and fallen on to her hands, hot* . . .

” Vasia 1 Understand me, imderstand 1
Otherwise am I lost 1 Have pity , , . Life is
difficult I . . . "

Vasihssa had bent down, and, as then in the
Sonet, kissed his head And again tenderness
and compassion for him, so big, yet so, as it were,
childishly helpless, had submerged Vasilissa*s
heart. If she did not take him back, have mercy
upon him, who then ^ And people would so
stand with stones to pelt him . . . Surely she
must not, because of her ” ofTendedness,” cast
him off ? And still she wanted alwuys with her
breast to save him from the blows which fate was

• Tiu* lefers to the tcin

* Thu also refers to the tear*

Free Love

SI

launching . . . Her love would be worth little
if it deserted him at the first wrong . . .

Vasilissa had stood over Vladimir. She had
stroked his head. She had said nothing. She
had been seeking a way out. There had come a
knock at the door. From the verandah. The
knock had been insistent, authoritative. What
could be the matter }

They had looked at one another. And at once
both of them had understood. Hastily they had
embraced, kissed closely, closely. They had
gone out to the porch. The situation had indeed
been so.

The enquiry into the “ case ” was ended. It
had been decreed : to arrest Vladimir. To
Vasilissa the floor had seemed to heave like
bellows . . .

But Vladimir had been calm. He had collected
his things. He had explained everything to
Vasilissa — where there were what papers, and
whom to cite as witnesses, and from whom to take
depositions . . . Then they had led Vladimir
away. A few years had passed since then, but
that night Vasilissa would never, never forget . . .

It had been terrible for her — ^nothing had there
remained in life ! . . Or would remain.

Two griefs had rent Vasilissa’s heart ; a
womanly grief, agelong, never to be forgotten,
and the grief of a friend-comrade for the affront
put upon a beloved one, for human spite, for
injustice.

She had ranged the bedroom as though half-
demented. No rest for her 1 . . .

^8

Free Love

There, there before her, m that same room, on
that bed, Vladimir had caressed, kissed, fondled
another woman , . » A woman bcautifbl, with

pouting hps, tuxunous bosom Could he lo'vc
her ? Could he, out of pity for her, for Vasihssa,
here said what was not the truth ? . . .

Vasihssa wanted the truth I Only the truth 1
, . 'Why had they removed, wrested from her,
Vladimir that day r Why that day ? Had he
been there still, she would have learnt the truth,
thoroughly questioned him . • . Had he been
there still— -he could have saved her from her

painful thoughts, shown her compassion. . . .

Her woman's heart had felt torn with grief,
with shame . And then there had stirred anger
aramst Vladmur . how had he dared to act so ? I
Had he loved her, he would not Have taken
another , If one does not love — one should say
so direct. He should not have hurt her, not have
lied . .

Vasihssa had flitted from comer to comer ;
no rest had she found

Then suddenly a new thought had driven into
her heart a needle what if Vladimir's case ”
was *' serious " ? What if thej’ had not arrested
him for nothing ^ What if worthless fellows had
entangled him, and he was having to answer for
them ?

Her feminine grief had been forgotten. The
Sister vath the full, red lips had been forgotten
There had remained only anxiety for Volodia — an
anxiet} reaching deadly anguish . . . There had
remained only offence on hts behalf, burning.

Free Love ^9

nauseating. They had aspetsed him. They had
arrested him. They had not spared him. Com-
rades, too ! . . .

What her offendedness, her “ womanly shame,”
as compared with the affront which they had put
upon him, her dear one, her, again, “ comrade ” }
The grief now was not that he had kissed
another woman, but that there was no truth even
in the Revolution, or justice

Her weariness had been forgotten. Vasilissa
had seemed no longer to possess a body. A soul
alone. Only a heart which painful thoughts
seemed to be rending with iron talons . . . She had
awaited daybreak. And with daybreak the
decision had come to her : to stand up for
Vladimir. Not to surrender him to wrong. To
tear him from the hands of the backbiter-plotters.
To prove to all, to all, to all : that honourable
was her friend, her husband-comrade ; that they
were calumniating him. For nothing were they
traducing, insulting . . .

Early in the morning a Red soldier had
brought her a note. One from Vladimir.

“ Vasia 1 My wife, beloved comrade 1 My
‘ case ’ now matters to me nothing . . . Let me
perish . . . One thought only is choking me,
driving me mad — ^lest I lose you. Without you,
Vasia, I will not live. So know that. If you have
lost affection for me, do not agitate on my behalf.
Let them shoot me 1 Your, only your, Volodia.”

And sideways, in a corner :

” I love you alone. You may believe me, or

6o

Free Lave

you maj not. But I \\ouM say this in the face of
death ...” ^ ,

In another corner, again, the postscript :

” Never have I reproached you with } our past ;
So try now to understand me, and pardon me.
Yours in heart and body. Volodia ”

Vasihssa had read the note, once, twice. ^ She
had grown a little lighter of heart. He was right.
Never had he reproached her for the fact of his
not having taken a virgin.

Besides, men — well, all of them were as he 1
How could he help it if that woman hung about
his neck ? Was he to turn monk ?

She had, yet another time, read the note.
Then she had kissed it. Folded it^ carefully.
Hidden it in her purse. Next, to business. To
“ extneate ” Volodia,

She had agitated She had run about. She
had grown excited. She had tilted against “ the
bureaucracy,” against people’s indifference. She
had drooped in soul. She had lost hope, And
she had rallied her strength anew.

She had encouraged herself, and once more
set to work to “ fight ” She was not going
to let injustice tnumph I She was not going
to let plotters, informers win a victory over
Volodta 1 . . . .

She had gained the chief thing : that Comrade

Free Love 6 1

Toporkov had taken the “ case ” into his own
hands. He had reviewed it. And he had pro-
posed a resolution : that the matter be dropped
for want of basis of charges. That Sviridov and
■'Malchenko be arrested. But next morning
Vasilissa had not arisen : fever had seized her.
Towards evening Vasilissa had known no one.
She had not known even Vladimir, now returned.

Vasilissa recalled the illness as a stifling dream.
That evening she had opened her eyes. She had
looked — there was a room. Unfamiliar. Medi-
cine on a table. Seated near the bed a Sister in a
scarf . . . Plain, elderly, with stern face. Vasilissa
had looked at her, and found it unpleasant that the
Sister should be there, and the white scarf had
annoyed her . . . Why, though She herself had
not known.

“ Should you like something to drink } ” The
Sister had bent over her, and proffered a beverage.

Vasilissa had drunk, and then relapsed into
oblivion. In her comatose state it had seemed to
her that Vladimir too was bending over her, and
straightening the pillows. Then once more
Vasilissa had become unconscious.

Was she dreaming, or could this be real
that into the room there had glided two shadows,
not shadows, women, not women . . . One white,
the other grey. They had whirled, intertwined . . •

Fne Leve

Either a dance, or thcf had been measuring
strength. And Vasilissa had bethought her that
this u as Life and Death come to her. Thej n ere
fighting . . - Which would win ?

It had been ternble for Vasilissa — so temble
that she had wanted to cry out, but lached v oicc . . .
And still more temble had it been because of
that . . . Her heart had threshed, knocked , , .
Behold, behold, it would burst .... Bakh, bakh,
bakh . In the street an exchange of shots.

Vasilissa had opened her eyes. The night light
had been burning, famtl) smoking. Alone, she.
Night tune She had listened Mice had been
scratching Thej had seemed to be scurrying
under the floor Contmualljf nearer and nearer.
And then it had become painful for Vasilissa in
another way , she had fancied the mice would
get to her on the bed, and begin running over
her , . . And strength to drive them away would
be lacking . .

Vasilissa had burst into tears, and called out in
a weak voice ; " Volodia, Volodia, Volodia I "
“Vasia, dear one ! My oun little darling 1
What, what is the matter with you ? “

Vladimir had leaned anxiously over her, and
gazed into her cy cs

“Volodia — ^jou ? Alive? And this is not
delusion only ? “ Vasilissa’s weak hand had tried
to reach Vladimir's head

“ Alive, ahve, dear one, and with you I , .
Why do you weep ? What has happened to
Vasiuk ? Has a dream been interrupted ? Is
there fever again ? “ He had kissed her hands

Free Love 63

tenderly, and stroked her smooth, cropped
head . . .

“ No, not a dream . . . Mice have been scratch-
ing there . . She had spoken apologetically,
with a weak smile.

"Mice.?!” Valdimir had laughed. “Well,
my Vasiuk has become a hero . . . My little mouse
has taken fright ! . . . I told the nurse not to leave
you unattended. It is well that I have returned
home just when I have done ! . . .”

Vasia had tried to ask him where he had
been . . . But her weakness had been such that
she could not. Nevertheless the weakness had
been pleasant, soothing. And it had been nice
indeed that beside her again she had him, her
beloved, her Volodia .... With weak fingers she
had clung to his hand, and not let it go. ‘

“ Alive,” her lips had whispered, smiling.

“^Of course, alive,” Vla^mir had laughed
back. And cautiously he had kissed her head.

Vasilissa had opened her eyes.

“ And is my braid on me no longer .? Have
they cut it off .? ”

“ Never mind. Do not worry, even if now
you are a boy all right. You are Vasiuk still, all
the same.”

Vasia had smiled again. She had felt happy.
So happy as befalls only in childhood.

Vladimir had not departed. Vasilissa had
dozed, and he had sat beside her on a chair, and
guarded her slumbers.

" Sleep, sleep, Vasia. This is not the time to
stare at me. You can stare at me when you are

64 Fr« Lovs

well again ... If you do not sleep you will have a
relapse, and the doctors will curse me up and
down, and tell me that 1 am a poor nurse . .

“ You Will not go away ? "

" Where should I go to ? lam about to sleep
all night on the floor beside you ... It will be the
more restful in that I shall have you m sight . . .
And tomorrow I shall be at work again . .

" At work again ? . . In the Supplies Depart-
ment ? ”

“ Oh, yes . . . Everything has been arranged.
They have arrested those rascals . . . But do not
you talk, you insufferable Vasitik 1 . . Sleep . . .
If not, go away I will . .

Her weak fingers had thrust themselves still
more tightly into his hand. But Vasia’s eyes had
closed submissively.

It had been so good, so sweet, to sleep whilst
Volodia was near. And he had gazed upon her
solicitously, tenderly . . .

“ Dear one 1 . .

" Sleep, insufferable, disobedient boy . .

“ I will ... I love none but you . . .**

Vladimir had bent down — carefully, tenderly,
for long, kissed her dosed ejes . , .

And Vasihssa could have died then 1 A better
thing that than happiness — nothing better in life
would ever exist . , *

Free Love

65

Vasilissa recalled her thoughts at that time, and
became afraid. Would it never again be so ? Had
her heart presaged truly at the time : that better
happiness would never befall ? . .

Yet now ? Would not there all the more be
the same joy, the same happiness } . . . She
was going to him, to her dear one. He was
calling her, waiting. He had sent a comrade to
hurry her. Money for the journey. A dress.
Of course, that being so, he loved her ? Why
should not the same happiness be again Vasi-
lissa wished to believe that the happiness would
be again, but at the bottom of her heart there was
stirring a little worm. She was not sure . . .
Why so What had altered .?

And once more Vasilissa reflected, memor-
ised . . .

They had parted then unexpectedly. The
Front had undergone a shift. Vladimir had
departed whilst Vasilissa had still been weak,
still scarcely able to move a foot. They had
parted nicely, affectionately. They had not made
mention of the Sister. Vasilissa had understood
that for Vladimir the woman had in very truth
been “ but a glassful of vodka — one drinks, and
forgets.”

Vasilissa had returned to her own place, to her
garret, and at once gone to work. Everything,
at the time, had seemed to be as before, to be
well. Yet, as Vasilissa now recalled, something

Fl

66 Free Loze

hsd come to be upon her hcJirt* Somewhere

in the depths, there had been nipping her either
ofFendedness with Volodia over the Sister
with the pouting )ips or distrust , , * "ict, all
the same, Vasilissa had still loved Volodia stead-
fastly Common amoet) and illness had soldered
them still more stronglj together. Prcnously
they had been m love,” but thc> had not yet
been ” akin ” Kow that jomtl) the} had lived
through sorrow, they had become nearer of heart
than ever . , Nevertheless love no longer

¥ ive Vasihssa joy as bright as a spnng mommg
hat love had become obscured, overcast, as it
were, uith clouds Vice versa, it was now grown
deeper and firmer

However, had that been a time for love, for
joy, at all ?

Fronts, separation . . Plots . . . Mobil-

isations of Communists Menaces from all
quarters To each one tasks neck-high , . -
Vasihssa had had to deal with the refugees . . .
She had been appointed to the Zhilotdicl of the
Soviet And then there had been bom to her the
idea of founding a ” house-commune ” Accord-
ing solely to her own " conception,” but With
the help of Stepan Alcxemtch . , . He had
supported her Wth advice VTixh finances
And Vasilissa bad plunged headlong into the
work.

She had lived so For months. Often she had
remembered Volodia, borne him always in her
heart, but had no tune to miss him He too
would be at work, and probablj everjthmg was

Free hove

67

going smoothly with him. “ He will not be
blustering now.” He would be living in peace
with “ chiefs ” and officials.

And suddenly ^Hadimir had turned up in
Vasilissa’s garret. Unexpectedly, unguessably.
During a retreat he had come imder an exchange
of shots. They had wounded him. Not danger-
ously. But rest had been necessary. They had
granted him leave. So he had come to “ wife for
board.”

Vasilissa had been glad. Yet also there had
stirred in her the thought ; “ Why has it so
happened that he has come here just now ?
What has not living cost me during the past two
months, and will do during the next ? ” Just
then, too, Vasilissa had had engagements, affairs
— one couldn’t turn round for them J . . . A
Convention, reorganisation of the Zhilotdiel,
the feud over the “ house-comm\me ”...
Simply, one could see no end to all these matters !

. . . And one could not be everywhere at once.
Yet here was Volodia again. And wounded, at
that. Nursing would be needed . . . What was
to be done ?

Anxiety had clouded Vasilissa’s joy.

But Vladimir had been as lighthearted as a
child.

He had brought her some shoes, even as he
had promised on the day of her arrival at his
.place . . .

“ Come ! Try them on, Vasia. Let us see
what your toys of feet will look like in them.”

Vasilissa had had little time to spare. There

68 Free Love

had been a session of the Zhilotdicl due Yet
she must not vex Volodia

She had tned them on It had been Itkc seeing
one’s feet for the first time

Then she had looked at Vladimir with eyes of
happiness, and known not how to thank him . . .

“I would have taken \ou into my arms,
Vasiutka, but my arm will not let me ... I
love your little feet . * . And your brown
eyes I "

Vladimir had been pleased with himself, ani-
mated Joyous He had talked, jested

But It had long been tune for Vasilissa to go to
the session I She had listened to her husband
with one ear only She had glanced at the
alarum clock which stood on a chest of drawers
beside a little mirror The minutes had run
away , . Thej had departed . . And she

would be being awaited at the session They
would be growing angry why did she keep
people waiting ^ It was not seemly for the
President to be late t

Only towards evening had Vasilissa returned
home Tired Unpleasantnesses had occurred
With worry in her soul

She had climbed the staircase to her garret,
and meanwhile reflected “ It is nice that
Volodia has come I can share my trouble with
him, and take his advice , . ”

She had entered But no Volodia Whither
had he gone ? His hat was m place, and his
cloak hanging up

Probably he had gone out for a moment only

Free Love 69

She had tidied the room. She had placed tea
upon the stove. Still no Volodia.

Whither had he disappeared ? She had gone into
the corridor. He had been nowhere to be seen.
She had sat down again, waited. And she had
grown uneasy. What could have happened to him?

She had just gone out into the corridor once
more when Volodia had issued from the Fedos-
eievs’ flat. They had been laughing, taking leave
of one- another as ever such friends . . . Why
had Volodia gone to them ? Surely he knew that
they were mischief-makers ?

“ So you have returned at last, Vasia ? And
I there, in your cage, had found things so tedious
that I could almost have hanged myself . . . All
day had I been alone. Then, luckily, I met
Gospodin Fedoseiev in the corridor, and he haled
me off to his place ...”

“ Do not associate with them, Volodia. You
yourself know that they are mischief-makers ! . . ”

“ Then would you bid me die of boredom,
solitary, in your garret ? Do not run away from
me for a whole day, and I will not go to the
Fedoseievs’ ...”

“ But, you see, I have my business ... I
should have been glad to have come home sooner,
but I could not . . . There was no getting
away ! . , . ”

“ Business ! But did not I, when you were ill
with typhus, sit up all night beside you ? Yes,
and, in the daytime as well, look after you ? . .
Here, Vasia, have I come to you wounded . . .
Even yet the fever is not past ...”

yo hwe

Vasilissa had heard reproach in his voice.
Volodia was “ offended ” that she had gone out
for the whole dap. But how could it have been
helped ? Why^ there was reorganisation in the
Department, a Convention pending , . .

*' It IS as though you were not glad to see me,
Vasia," Vladimir had said. " I had not expected
to find you thus ..."

** Oh, what a thing for you to say 1 I not
glad ? . . . But I . . . Dearest one of mine,
my darling i . . . You are my cherished hus-
band 1 ” , . .

And she had thrown herself about his neck.
She had nearly upset the stove,

“There, there ! ... Yet, all the same, I
had thought : * Does she love me no longer ?
Has she not set up another one ? So cold, so
indifferent, she is , . . And her eyes are distant.
Not caressing.' ’’

" I am tired, Volodia ... I have not the
strength to deal with everything."

“ O my indefatigable little Fury 1 " And
Volodia had pressed Vasilissa to himself, and
kissed her . . .

The^^ had lived thus together in the *' garret-
den.''

At first nothing had happened. Although it
had been difficult for Vasilissa to divide herself

Free Love

71

between work and husband, she had done so
always with gladness.

For now she had had someone "with whom to
confer, to hold consultation, to share mishaps, to
devise fresh plans.

Only the “ housekeeping ” had bothered her.
At the Front Vladimir had become accustomed
to “ feed in style.” But, at Vasilissa’s, what, if
you please, was the “ housekeeping ” ? A Soviet
meal, and tea with a tiny lump of sugar for
flavouring. For the first few days there had
sufficed some provisions which "^adimir had
brought with him.

“ I have got hold of a modicum of stuff — flour,
sugar, sausage. Oh, I know that it is nothing to
you, that you live like a sparrow under an eave,
and have saved not a single grain.”

But when Vladimir’s supplies had come to an
end the two had had to pass to a Soviet meal . . .
Vladimir had not been pleased, had frowned.

“ Why always feed me with millet, millet,
millet As though I were a fowl ! ”

“ There is nothing else to be got. I am living
on a ration ...”

“ ‘ There is nothing else to be got,’ indeed !
The Fedoseievs receive a ration no larger than
yours, yet yesterday they treated me to a whole
dinner. And a good one. Baked potato. Her-
ring and onion ...”

“ But the Fedoseievs have tme to do house-
keeping ... I, on the contrary, am, as you see,
exhausted — I can barely get through my busi-
ness.”

II

'J2 Frtt

" You take too much upon yourself, and this
IS the result Why bother at all with the ‘ house-

commune ' ? The Fedoseievs say **

" Oh, I know for myself what the Ftdoscievs
say ” And Vasihssa had fired up, so much had it
affronted her that Volodia associated xnth them,
with her “ enemies ” “ Look here The fact

that you listen to them, and even talk with them
against my work, is not comradely on jour
part.”

They had disputed on that occasion Both had
grown heated Then both had felt sorry They
had become reconaled But it had, all the same,
caused Vasihssa more and more to worry about not
looking after her husband He had come to her
wounded, and she was feeding him with a Soviet
dinner I He had had more consideration for

her , he had brought her a pair of shoes

Vasihssa had fretted, next, that Volodia did not
even eat He had taken two spoonfuls, and
pushed his plate away

'* r would rather sit hungry,” he had said,
than put your Soviet iurda^ down my throat
Please make some tea, and get someone to
give us a little bread I will send for flour from
the Front You can repay it later ”

It had been impossible to go on like that
Something would have to be devised

Vasihssa had hurried off to a session And m
her head the session s resolution had mingled with
buckwheat gruel What could she get

instead of it, to give Volodia for dinner ?

* Veij poor, coarie soup

Free Love 73

Given time, though, she would solve the diffi-
culty, take thought, arrange.

To meet her, a cousin. She had been over-
joyed. She needed the cousin. The latter had a
daughter. A lively, boisterous girl. She had just
finished school. Was living, at present, with her
parents, without work, and helping her mother
with the housekeeping. Her name was Stesha,

Vasilissa and the cousin had come to an agree-
ment : let Stesha come to Vasilissa’s each day,
and she would do for a housekeeper ; Vasilissa,
in return for this, would share her ration with
the cousin. And they had decided thus. And
Vasilissa had hastened to the session with light-
ened soul. To-morrow they would feed Volodia
as was proper.

Stesha had shown herself to be wide-awake.
She had hit it off with Vladimir. Together had
they done the “ housekeeping.” Here they had
swopped an item of the ration ; there Vladimir
had obtained something or another from the
Co-operative, on the strength of old acquaintance.
Vasilissa had been content. Volodia had com-
plained no more of the food. But he had re-
mained “ affronted ” with Vasilissa : “ For

everyone else you have a care, but I, it seems,
might not even be existing.”

This had hurt Vasilissa. And she had been so

Free Lave

torn between work and Volodia. It was so
hard that he should have amved just at that
fevered time I . . *

This she had explained to Volodia. He had
frowned. He had seemed not to understand.

You have grown cold, Vasia, and unlearnt
how to kiss - .

*' I am dreadfully tired, Volodia ... 1 lack
strength,” she had said with contrition.

And Volodia had frowned again.

Really and truly had Vasthssa conceived (and
found the conception unpleasant) that, though it
was ages since he had been able to come and visit
her, she was, to excess, disappearing, from morn-
ing onwards, to business, and returning at night
— well, ” as though one could not feel legs to be
beneath one.” Only might she reach her pillow I
The idea of kisses at that time I

Once there happened a particularly unpleasant
incident Volodia had started to caress her, and
she, as she lay in bed, had fallen asleep . . .

In the morning Volodia had raged ; what was
the good of caressing a dead bod) ? He had
jested, but evidently he had been offended. And
it had been so awkward for Vasilissa ; she had
been as though guilty towards him ... He must
in very truth be thinking that she had little love
for him I . . Yet where was she to get the strength
for It all ? . . .

Free Love

15

On another occasion Vasilissa had returned
home earlier than usual. Vladimir himself had
been preparing dinner.

“ AVhat is this ? Where is Stesha ? ”

“ That Stesha of yours has turned out to be a
hussy. I have sent her about her business. If
she dares show herself here again, I’ll throw her
from the fourth story.”

“ Then what has happened ? What has she
done ”

“ Merely take my word for it that the girl is a
hussy ... I should not have sent her off for
nothing. To tell you all would only upset you.
The wicked, villainous creature ! May I never
again so much as smell her ! ”

Vasilissa had perceived that Stesha had much
angered Volodia. She had decided, for the mo-
ment, to ask no more questions. She had
reflected : “ Probably the girl had stolen some-
thing. Nowadays that often happens. And
Volodia values his effects. He has in him that
‘ instinct of the proprietor,’ although also he is
kind, and invariably shares with a comrade.
Merely let anyone take anything off him, and — no,
no, O God of mine ! He never forgives that ! ”

“ What are we to do now about the house-
keeping ? ”

“ A fig for the housekeeping ! I will go out
to dining-rooms. 'Also, comrades can be looked
up. I shall not perish.”

76

Free Lee

Stesha had come to Vasilissa at the Zhilotdicl
lo ask tor her radon

What has been the matter between you and

d'd Tou

"I did notimg," Stesha had ansnered mth

hwr^'"" the comb in her

me sn I if ” ' ’’f """■ =^'cc

me, so I ga\ e him a good one ov er the jowl For

afterwards he was spitting^ blood I

hope It will prevent him getdng Into the habit I ”

Retailing foolishness, Stesha Wadimir

vanovitch was simply joking with ) ou ” Vasilissa

tkenmn" “'-"'j-' >>“• haj b en^

aar|,.cmng m her eyes

to th^beV °'“'’S cLm am4i?”’''" on

get -at against m,1iVl “ '

It/Slu Jhit rad4,e°e *“

Metehtew''"- '' ™ - c"n/arn°

J j she was not ffoinff to have*

h . 'k Afigfo?4emnon

had become dark m Vas,I.g.,*c

ugly — the question of wK 9” J" thing looked

gtrl ^tL2aS "'o'Acd the

fc a^tesna sdlJ ivas almost a child ] It was a

Free Love 77

mercy that also she was sharp, and knew life.
Otherwise, what might have happened ? And, as
before, the worm had gnawed and gnawed at
Vasilissa’s heart. She had not known whether to
tell Volodia that she knew all, or whether — ^the
better course — ^to remain silent . . . The blame
lay upon her. As it was, she had had no chance
to speak to him on the subject.

A new streak had ensued. Vladimir had looked
up old friends, fellow trading employees and
members of the Co-operative. He had now taken
to disappearing for days at a time. The persons
in question had not been on visiting terms with
Vasilissa. Every morning Vasilissa had gone out
to the Zhilotdiel, or to the Committee, whilst
Volodia still had been fast asleep. During the
day-time she had run home — ^no Volodia. In
the evening she had returned — her “ garret ”
had been empty.

She had felt vexed. She had not known
whether to go to bed, or whether to await him with
tea. She had warmed up some supper on the
stove, and arranged her papers against the
morrow. She had listened for footsteps in the
corridor . , .

No Volodia.

She had extinguished the stove (it was necessary
to economise), and again betaken herself to her

7 8 ^ree haxe

papers. She had looked through reports, sorted

petttions ... ^ ^

Someone had hurried up the staircase , . . He r

No, not Volodia.

She had gone to bed alone. From weariness
she had soon been asleep. But c\'cn in her slecjj
she had continued to listen for her dear ones
coming ... It had been dull without him,
cold.

Sometimes he had returned pleased, cheerfiil.
He had awakened Vasilissa, caressed her. Full of
anecdotes, news . . . Plans of c\eiy kind . . .

Things had become agreeable m Vasilissa’s soul
— lighter thus. Jo)ous. Sorrow was going to
depw.

But sometimes, also, the case had been that
Volodia had returned not sober ; heavy, morose,
with drunken eyes . . . He had upbraided himself,
and thrown reproaches at Vasilissa : what sort of
a life was that ? . . In a tiny cage under a roof 1 - . .
No gaiety for one, or comfort . , , And a wife who
was not a Viife I , . . And no child to them ....

This last had hurt VasiUssa especially. She had
never thought of a child for her own sake ; but
she had wanted to afford him that joy . . . And yet
It never so befell ! She did not become preg-
nant I . . Others Wept, and did not know how to
preserve themselves from children, but for her,
Vasilissa, motherhood evidently had not been
ordamed . . .

“ Anaemia," the doctor said,

Vladimir had decided to cheer up Vasilissa,
to take her to a theatre. He had procured tickets.

Free Love

79

Vasilissa had come home at the appointed hour.
Vladimir had been dandifying himself before a
mirror. Such a beau he had made of himself ;
again had he become like a “ barin ”... Vasilissa
had laughed, teased him, admired the husband-
beauty ! . . .

“ And what are you yourself going to wear ”
He had scanned her anxiously. “ Surely you are
not without a gala dress } "

Vasilissa had smiled. What, anyway, were gala
dresses ? Let those people over there, in America,
array themselves in them, 'and invent clothes for
different days 1 . . She would put on just a clean
blouse, and the new shoes which Volodia had
bought her ; that would be all her get-up.

Vladimir had frowned. And he had looked at
Vasilissa with such angry eyes that Vasilissa had
even been frightened.

” Do you suppose that in the theatre everyone
will look only at your feet ? . . . That which is
above them — oh, cover it just with a bit of
sacking ? ”

“ I don’t understand, Volodia, why you are so
angry ? ”

“ One has reason to get angry with you, with
the State workers ... You have arranged for life
to be like a monastery or a prison . . . There are
to be no comforts for one, no nice dress, no real
home . . . Live in a cage, drink water, eat skilly,
flaunt about in rags . . . Why, in America I lived
better when out of work . . .”

“ Well, ever)^ing cannot be done at once ! . . ,
You yourself know that — ^there is an upset ...”

go Free Love

“ Away, you, with your ‘ upset ' ! . . * Fine
organisers we have got 1 . . You and the rest have
made the upset, and as soon as one begins to mend
it people shout — *' Are you minded to make of
yourself a bourgeois ? Put that back again 1 .

You do not know how to live 1 Hence the
mess goes on . < . It is not for this that I
made the Revolution, to establish a life of thts
sort 1 "

“ Then did we make the Revolution for our-
selves ^

“ Well, for whom else r

** For all ”

“ And for the bourgeois f ”

“ What silliness you utter I Of course not
for the bourgeois I For the workers, for die
proletarians * ,

“ And we, in your opinion, are who ? Not
workers ? Not proletarians ? . .

They had disputed, disputed, almost been late
for the theatre

As they had traversed the street, kneading its
spring mire, Vladimir had walked m front with
long strides, but said nothing , Vasilissa had
scarcely been able to keep up with him

“Do not stride along so, Volodia 1 * . I
am quite out of breath ”

He had halted angrily. He had waited for
Vasilissa. More quietly he had gone on again,
but still said nothing

At the theatre Vladimir had encountered
acquaintances, and spent every entr’acte with
them Vasilissa had sat alone.

Free Love 8 1

(

There had been no pleasure for her in the
theatre. Why had she wasted the evening
To-morrow double work . . .

Not long before Vladimir’s departure the
Convention had been opened. Although Vladi-
mir was not a Delegate, he had been present
at the Convention. Quarrels had proceeded,
“ grouplets ” had been formed. Vladimir had
gone with Vasilissa, and enthusiastically joined
her “ grouplet.” He had thrown over his friends.
Now Vladimir and Vasilissa had been inseparable.
Together to the Convention, and together from
the Convention. At home had they thought out
the defection from the rest. Resolutions had
been registered. A typewriter had been brought
out. Vladimir had acted as “ typist.” Briskly
they had worked thus ! Friendlily. All united.
They had fussed, they had argued . . . And
then they had laughed. In youthful fashion,
without cause. The contest itself had pleased,
attracted them.

And Stepan Alexeivitch had been with them.
He had sat and smoothed his grey, merchantish
beard, and looked at the young people with kindly,
lively eyes. From time to time Vasilissa had
murmured things to him. And he had valued
her. “ She has,” he had said, “ a by no means
feeble headpiece.” Towards Vladimir, however,
he had seemed to have cooled. Vasilissa had

Gl

8 a Vree Love

noticed this. It had pained her. For what
reason ? And Vladimir had not liked him on this
occasion.

" Your Stepan Alexeivitch is very oily to you
just now ... He smells all over of incense.
He IS not a fighting Communist. An ‘ under-
grounder ’ — that IS all,”

Vasilissa’s groupict ” had gone to pieces.
But she had mustered more votes than had been
expected. And, so, victory 1 . .

Towards the end of the Convention Vladimir's
time to depart had come. Again Vasihssa had
found herself distracted Here must she fit out
a husband for a journey, and there was a Con-
vention not yet ended 1 . . .

However, things had grown lighter in Vasl-
Itssa'ssoul Again she had felt ’ that her husband
was not merely a husband, but also a “ comrade ”
And she had been proud of him — ^he had greatly
helped the ” grouplet.” The comrades had not
wanted to let him go.

'* Well, goodbye, Vasmk 1 , . , My sparrow
IS going to remain all by itself under the roof
. . . Kow It will have no one to ‘ whimper * to
about Its mishaps. On the other hand, there will
be no one to hinder you in your work.” ....

” And have you hindered me ? ” Vasihssa
had clasped his neck, and caressed him, "

“You yourself said that a husband took up
your time ... You complained about having to
do the housekeeping ...”

” Do not recall that 1 . . Without you it will
be worse.”

Free Love

83

And she had hidden her head upon his breast.

“ You are not only a husband to me ; you
are a comrade as well. That is why I love you
so.”

They had exchanged a tender farewell. On
excellent terms.

But when Vasilissa had seen Vladimir off, and
was hurrying back to the Convention, suddenly
she had felt ; that, all the same, and despite the
pleasantness of being together, it was for her, now
left alone — freer. So long as her dear one had
been there, all thoughts had been duplicated, the
work had been shared. But now she could once
more be there, at work, as wholly herself. It was
both work and rest. With her husband she had
had no real sleep.

“ Have jau speeded your husband ? ” Stepan
Alexeivitch had asked her at the Convention.

“ Vladimir is gone.”

“ That is better. You were too much taken up
with him.”

Vasilissa had been surprised ; how had Stepan
Alexeivitch come to know that .? . . . She had
said nothing. She had always been reluctant to
confess it, as like a wrong to her husband.

It was only just getting light, but already
Vasilissa was on her legs. The train was due to
arrive that morning. One needed to hasten and

84 Frge Ltsvs

tidy oneself, to rearrange one's clotiies, so as to
please Voloia, the dear husband Fane) , serpen
months apart 1

All was well in Vasilissa’s heart — ^Iike spnng,
bnght, joyous

The “ Nepman's lady ” was extended m her
berth still, and, as she lay on her back, examining
her features m a hand mirror But Vasihssa was
washed already, her curls had been carefully
combed, and the new costume, the one which
Grusha had made for her, donned VasiUssa
looked at herself in the compartment mirror, and
saw only her eyes, but the were so gleaming
that the whole race appeared comely

E\erything was, seemingly, m order This
tune Volodia should not reproach her for “ walk-
ing in tatters "

A wayside station Vasilissa looked through
a window Early morning, but the sun was hot
In the North spnng was only just noticeable still,
but here everything was m bloom Even the
trees Species unfamiliar, peculiar I-cav es
something like what the rowan had, but of colour
more tender, and interspersed all over with white
bunches Like the lilac, and yet not like And
the scent struck straight through the window,
sweet, lusaous

“ "What trees are those ’ Vasilissa asked the
conductor '* We have none such

** White acaaas ”

White acaaas ? What lovely trees The
conductor plucked a few sprap, and gave them,
to Vasilissa. How they smelt ! And so joyful

Free Love

85

was Vasilissa in soul that she could have wept.
Everj’-thing around her now was very interesting,
beautiful. And, above all — “ Above all, in an
hour I shall be seeing Volodia, my desired, dear
one.”

“ Shall we arrive soon ” she persisted to the
conductor. It seemed to her as though the train
would never start again. Still it remained stuck
on a siding. It puffed, puffed, but did not move.
At last it went.

Then a town became visible. A cathedral.
Barracks. A suburb. — The platform of a station.
Where, then, was Volodia .? Where ?

Vasilissa awaited him by an open window. And
Volodia bobbed up from the other end of the car,
and embraced her.

“ Volodika 1 Ah, you . . . You startled me.”

They kissed.

“ Give me your bits of things as quickly as
possible. And let him become acquainted : our
Secretary, Ivan Ivanovitch, get the things to-
gether whilst we go to the motor-car. I now
Vasia, have a pair of horses, my own cow, a
motor-car ... I should like also to set up some
pigs. We have plenty of room, a whole farm.
You will see it for yourself. You are going to live
as a landowner’s lady. The business is settling
dow’n. , Not long ago we opened a branch of our
own in Moscow.”

Vladimir talked, talked in his eagerness to im-
part everything — the manner in which he was
living now, and the ideas of which he was full.
And Vasilissa, after seating herself in the car.

86 Liove

listened And though it interested her to hear
of Volodia, she too wanted as soon as possible to
tell her tale, as well as to learn from him how he
had got on without her Had he fretted ? Had
he very much been longing for her^

They reached the house A detached resid-
ence, with a garden A pageboy in braided cap
on guard at the door He helped them to alight
from the car

“ Let us see, Vasia, if you like things m oiw
house Will they be better than m your little
cage under the roof ^ **

A staircase with carpet. A nurror Entrance-
hall Vasdissa took off her hat, threw aside her
cloak. They entered the “ reception rooms *’
Divans, carpets A dinmg room with lar^c
dock. Pictures in gilded frames , «\ them fruit,
game hung on a peg

“ Well ^ Are you pleased ? " Vladimir was
proud, beaming

" Yes," was Vasihssa’s irresolute reply as she
glanced around She did not yet know whether
she was pleased All was so "strange," un-
familiar

“And here, our bedroom" And Vladimir
flung wide the door The bedroom opened by
tn o windows on to the garden And that at once
dtd please Vasilissa.

“ The trees I " she said joyfully " White
acacias ’ And she humed to a window

“ But first look at the room , you can still
run into the garden . Not bad, is it, what
I have arranged for you ? I m.yself collected

Free Love 87

everything, and set it out. As soon as I took the
house I began to wait for your coming.”

“ Thank you, dear one ...” Vasilissa strained
to kiss Volodia, but he, as though not remarking
it, turned her by the shoulders towards a large
mirror in a cupboard.

“ You see how convenient that is. Before that
mirror you will be' able to behold yourself all
over when you are dressing. Inside are shelves
. . . For putting feminine clothing there, hats,
and frippery ...”

“ As though I had any hats and frippery 1 ”
Vasilissa laughed. “ A fine lady ! ” But
Volodia persisted : “ Do you see what a bed that
is ? Coverlet of silk, quilted. I procured it with
difficulty. It is our own ; I did not take it over
by the inventory. For night time one can light
this pink lamp ...”

Vladimir acted as Vasilissa’s guide, pointed
out to Vasilissa each trifle, was himself as delighted
as a boy. Had he not arranged a comfortable
nest for a wife ? And Vasilissa listened, smiled
at his pleasure, yet somehow felt uneasy in mind
. . . What could she say ? The bedroom voas
fine, “ k la barin.” Rugs, curtains, mirrors . . .
Yet a “ strange ” room, somehow. As though
she had not come into a room of her own. There
was nothing there of what Vasilissa needed. She
could not even perceive a little table on which to
dispose her books, papers . . . Only was she
pleased, really pleased, with the two windows
which opened on to the garden, looked on to the
white acacias.

88

Free Love

“ Now, tidy yourself up, have a wash, and we
will go to luncheon,” said Vladimir, and moved
towards a window to lower the blind.

"But why should you do that ? " And Vasi-
hssa prevented him. " It is so nice to look at the
garden.”

" No, no. The blinds must be kept lowered
during the daytime. Otherwise the stuffs will
fade.”

So the grey lattices were let down, and, like
heavy eyelids, concealed the green of the garden
which peered at the window. And the room
became grey, depressing, and still stranger . . .
Vasilissa washed her hands, combed her curls
before a mirror,

" But IS that really you ? Is this the costume
made from the material which I sent you ? ”

" Yes, from that same material.” Vasilissa
expected praises, looked at Volodia, asked for
them.

" Show yourself well.” Vladimir turned her
this way and that. From his face Vasilissa could
see that — he was not pleased I . , " What made
you think of puffing out your sides in such a
manner ^ You have a slim figure, just the one for
fashionable gowns. Why have you got yourself
such a monstrosity as this ? ”

Vasilissa stood dtsmajed, flushed, guiltily
blinking.

" How 3 monstrosity ? Crusha declared that
such was the fashion.”

" As if your Grusha understood I , . She has
merely ruined the material. In it you look like

Free Love

89

the wife of a priest. You had better take the dress
oifj and put on your ordinary clothes ; then you
will look more like yourself ... At present you
are neither peahen nor jackdaw.”

And, without remarking Vasilissa’s mortified
face, Vladimir went into the dining-room, to
hurry up luncheon.

Vasilissa vexedly stripped off Grusha’s creation,
and in haste rearranged herself in her usual skirt
and blouse with belt.

She felt distressed at heart. Two thin tears
rolled on to the new-old blouse. But at once they
dried themselves again. In Vasilissa’s eyes there
was a resentful coldness.

During luncheon there presented herself the
“ Director’s service staff,” Maria Semenovna, a
woman stout, elderly, grave.

Vasilissa shook hands with her.

“ That was unnecessary,” Vladimir explained
when Maria had left the dining-room. “ Treat
her from the standpoint of ‘ mistress,’ or you will
not escape trouble and pretensions.”

Vasilissa looked at her husband with surprise.

“ I absolutely fail to understand that.”

Vladimir played the host to Vasilissa. But
Vasilissa lacked zest. All was not well in her
heart.

“ Do admire the tablecloth — Morozovian linen.

90 l^ret Lo%e

And the same with the napkins However, I
had not ordered them to be set out ; laundrj
charges are high "

" \Vhence did )ou get it all ? You did not
buy 1 1 all, did you ? ” Vasilissa looked at Vladimir
stern!) , as expecting a repl)

" The idea, now I , . Why, do you know what
such a setting costs nowada)S ? Milliards 1 Do
jou suppose me really to have such a Director’s
salary that I could buy riches of that sort ? All
this I get by inventory, as Director, It is well
that I came here whilst still it was possible to
obtain things through one and another Depart-
ment, and on the strength of old acquaintanceship
That game is played out now No one would
grant one such a setting now Cash down, if you
please Of course, during the winter I have
bought a thing or two at my own expense There
IS that wardrobe with the mirror which is in the
bedroom, the silken quilt The lamp in the
drawing room " . Vladimir enumerated delib-

erately, with satisfaction

And m Vastlissa’s eyes the coldness grew and
grew Vicious little flames had become lighted
there And Vasilissa’s eyes looked, not brown,
but green, like a cat’s

“ How much, then, did thoie luxunes cost
you ? ” In Vasilissa’s voice there was a slight
tremble , rage was boiling in it But Vladimir
did not notice the fact He was eating a cutlet
with sauce, and drinking beer

“ If one were to take cverythmg into general
account, and to add to it the discount which I

Ft£s Love - 9 ^

obtained for ready cash . . . There would result.

'^’^"a£r' wli a pause designed to impress

anSTatfed t“stnL1?yt1oXilis=a.

What a husband, eh ? p „

“ Vasia, what is the matter

Vasilissa had leapt up ro 5 were

her whole self towards him. Her eyes

vicious, green. money ? At once

“ Whence did you get that money

tell me whence ? yourself.

“What is this, Vasia ?

Surely you cannot think that g Reckon

or do y- "d irwiii s^ yoo-'f;:
up my salary, an y Thebonuses as well.

He named the month y r ; ^ month ?

“ You receive such waste it all

Then how dare of all kinds ? Want

upon this 1 . . Hunger . . .

IS growing . Have you forgotten them .

^‘Cissrapproached Vlad™, and queji-d
him with fo™"®’ Vladimir did
Director, ^md h” J Vasilissa, gendy

not ”n subjected her to ridicule-

persuaded her, crmrrow under a roof, and

She had lived like a sp _ _ earned

brew not the value of mon y^^
still more, audy^ d|0 ”
did. r/iey really

9 a Free Love

However, Vasilissa was not that sort ” Ont
could not get over her with words She had
tusked the bit She demanded an answer as to
why he was Jiving “ not Jike a Communist *’ ?
\V% was he wasting money upon every sort of
trash when hunger and want were around ?

Vladimir saw that Vasilissa was not to be talked
over Otherwise must he act ** From the
political aspect ** must the matter be explained
A Director’s establishment had to be such-and-
such Those were the instructions of ** the
Centre " Above all things did e\ erything require
to be done so that their enterpnse should flourish,
so that the firm should earn a full amount of
profit And here Vladimir was insistent Let
Vasilissa, first of all, look at what Vladimir had
accomplished in a year In an empty spot he had
knocked together a business, increased its profit-
ableness, and made it bid fair to equal any other
three hundred m his “ region ” Vasilissa might
be certain that, e\en if he himself lived “ like a
human being,” he cared for every other employee,
down to the humblest hand iJet her probe into
the enterpnse from the beginning, and then start
crying out He, Vladimir, had not expected that
his friend Vasilissa, his wife-comrade, could
arrive and at once pipe the same tune as his
enemies To work thus would be difficult
One might wear oneself out for a business’ sake,
and then, if you please ! His wife too was going
agamst him, betraying one to judgment

Vladimir was offended He boiled up Now
he too had eyes which glowed like those of an

Free Love 93

enraged wolf, and sparkled at Vasilissa as though
they wished, with their wrath and ofFensiveness,
to consume her . . . For distrust of him, for
“ condemnation ” of him.

Vasilissa listened. She began to give in.
Could he, after all, be right } Nowadays every-
thing was on a different basis. The chief thing
was that everything should be regular to exacti-
tude, and the business be carried on. Let the
people’s wealth increase. She did not dispute
with Vladimir in this regard.

“ The fact that I obtain things for myself, and
fit myself out with an establishment of my own —
that is because one cannot live for ever in ‘ house-
communes ’ 1 Are we any worse than the
American workers } You should see how many
of them live 1 A piano, a Ford of their own,
a motor cycle , . .

Several times already had the grave Maria
Semenovna peered into the dining-room. She
wanted to serve the pancakes. And she saw that
they had scarcely come together before they had
begun to wrangle. It had used once to be thus
with “ the real gentry,” with the folk with whom
Maria had served up to the Revolution. What
they had done the “ Communists ” did — they
were all the same. She was vexed only because
of the pancakes — ^they were standing too long.

94

Fret Ijr e

Vladimir conducted Vasilissa over the business

premises^ the ofhees, the warehouses, and showed
her the employees’ living apartments He took
her into the counting house

** Ijxik at our books , such accuracy you
will find ai no one else’s See how I haie
established business, and then accuse me of
extravaganc^ ”

HeasVedmebook keeper to explain to Vasilissa
the pnnciplts ” of their accountancj Simpli
fied, but preci e At the Centre they specially
praised them for their book keeping

Vasilissa listened She did not understand all,
but it was manifest that they were “ endea\our-
ing,’ that they loved their work And Volodia
was all there, with his soul in the business He
led her to the empipjees’ quarters Purposely he
questioned the wives of his fellow labourers as to
whether they were contented

Tnumphantl) ho glanced at Vasilissa when
everywhere the answer was the same “ Con-

tented ^ Considering the times of now, it could
not be better Owing to your care do we live,
Vladimir Ivanovitch { y’

You see, though you say that I am become a
* spendthnft ’ ? Believe; me, I began by doing all
I could to provide for the emplo}ees I busied
myself continually for them Only later concern
ing mj'self Do you perceive now how they
live ? With the hands it is no worse than with

\

Free Love

95

the offices staff. For them I have striven especi-
ally, I have done all that I could,”

“ Oh, you have done well ! And they ? What
have they done for you ? ”

” How strangely you reason, Vasia, I and
they are as one. What I am they are . . . Formerly
the Director was one thing, and the workers were
another. With us it is not so. You, Vasia, in your
swamp, have become quite overgrown with moss.”

This was said as in jest, but Vasilissa felt
Vladimir to be displeased with her, as though
offended with her. All day he conducted her
about the ” firm’s ” buildings. Vasilissa grew
tired. In her temples there was a whizzing, in
her side a stitch had begun, and her back was
aching. Oh to lie down when they returned home,
and sleep. In consequence of the journey her
head seemed to be filled with the beat of the
carriage wheels. But Volodia said that guests
were coming to dinner presently. Vasilissa must
“ receive ” them.

They returned home. They entered the hall.
The pageboy opened the door, and stood as
though he were awaiting orders.

Vladimir glanced at him, took out a small
book, wrote a few words, and gave them to the
pageboy.

“ Now, quickly, Vasia ! Without any loiter-
ings ! You are to hand the reply to me personally.
Have you understood ? ”

And he turned towards Vasilissa, and looked at
her in a strange sort of way. Half-guiltily, half-
questioningly.

96 Free Love

“ Why have you, Vasiuk, got your little eyes so
fixed upon me ? ” And his voice was uncertain,
as though seeking to “ ingratiate ’

Never mind So, it seems, the pageboy too
IS called Vasia ^ ”

“ He too Does It oflfend you that I should
have two Vasias in the house ? Ah, you 1 What
a woman }ou are * Jealous Be reassured
There is no Vasia m all the world greater than
you And I love you alone ”

He embraced Vasilissa, altogether endearingly
He looked into her eyes He kissed her For the
first time that day he caressed her Then,
having embraced, they passed into the bed
room

The guests arrived for dinner Saveliev and
Ivan Ivanovitch, Secretary of the Management
Saveliev a tall, stout man in bright grey suit of
tails Sparse hair, carefully parted , ring on
index finger Eyes clever, with cunning in them
And a smile on shaven face that was not nice ,
as though he observed everything, and ” spat
upon ' everything 50 long as he himself lived well
So It seemed to Vasilissa

When he greeted Vasilissa he made to raise her
hand to his lips She wrested it away
‘ I am not used to that ”

As you will But I, you know, am never
averse to kissing the hand of a young woman
It IS agreeable to me, and yet does not make the
husband grow jealous Yet, Vladimir Ivanovitch,
you ought to be jealous indeed Eh ? Confess
that you are 1 ”

Free Love 97

And he dapped Vladimir upon the shoulder
without ceremony. And ^Hadimir laughed.

“ In Vasia I have an exemplary wife ; there is
no cause to be jealous about her.”

“ Of course, she does not take her example from
her husband ? ” And Saveliev gave Vladimir a
wink, whilst Vladimir’s eyes suddenly became
large and nervous.

“ I think that I too have never given cause.”

But Saveliev caught him up :

” There, there ! We know you husbands. I
myself have been a husband. Now I live merely
as a bachelor.”

Saveliev did not please Vasilissa ; decidedly he
did not please her. But Vladimir carried on talk
with him as with a friend. On business and on
politics alike. Vasilissa preferred not to discuss
politics with such a ” speculator,” or to laugh at
the President of the Ispolkom. ‘ Most certainly
Volodia must be reasoned with, and put an end
to this friendship.

During dinner they drank wine : the Secretary,
Ivan Ivanovitch, had brought it in a wicker-cased
flagon. The topic engrossing the company was
the holding of some large stocks — the question of
whether, if they should rise in value, they might
not come too late upon the market.

Vasilissa listened, strove to catch the essence of
the matter. But, in her opinion, all this was
wholly unimportant, they were talking not of
” the chief thing.” And her temples worried
her. They were twitching, aching. Even her
* Executive Committee.

Hl •

98 Free Love

eyes were painfiil. Oh, might they finish dinner
as soon as possible.

When they rose from table Vladimir at once
ordered out his motor-car ; he had to attend an
important meeting in connection with transport.

" Surely you are not going to a meeting to-
night ^ On the first day of your wife’s arrival ?
This IS not nght, Vladimir Ivanovitch,” said
Saveliev, at the same time glancing with a covert
grin at Vladimir.

“ I cannot help it,” jerked Vladimir in reply,
as he lit a cigarette with absorbed attention. ** I
should have been only too glad to stay but for
business ”

” Business may differ from business,” persisted
Saveliev. And Vasihssa thought that he winked
at Vladimir as though making fun of her — the
detestable speculator. “ In your place I should
have put aside all business for to-day, and spent at
least the first evening with my helpmeet. Busi-
ness does not run away.”

But Vladimir made no reply, and reached for
his hat as though vexed.

“ Shall we go, Nikanov Platonovitch ? ”

They went.

Ivan Ivanovitch also took himself off.

Vasihssa remained alone. In the great, empty
dwelling. Such an unfamiliar, alien one. She
traversed the rooms. Melancholy- Lonely.
Cold. She halted by a window. She lay down
upon the bed with the silken quilt. And at once
she fell asleep.

'Free 'Love

i99

She awoke as from a nudge. Dark. She lit
the lamp, looked at the clock. A quarter past
twelve. Had she slept so long as that ? After
midnight. And still no Volodia.

Vasilissa arose, refreshed her face with water.
She passed into the dining-room.

The table was covered for supper, the lamp
burning. Empty and quiet.

In the other rooms darkness. She went into
the kitchen. Maria Semenovna was tidying
up.

“ Is Vladimir Ivanovitch not returned yet ? ”

“ Not yet.”

“ Does he always return from meetings as late
as this } ”

“ He does so at different times.”

Maria Semenovna was not garrulous. Morose.

“ And do you wait up for him Do not you go
to bed ? ”

“ I take turns with Vasia ; one day I on duty,
another day he.”

” Will Vladimir Ivanovitch be supping ”

“ He will if he brings home guests with him.
Otherwise he will go straight to his room.”

Vasilissa paused ; she perceived Maria Semen-
ovna to be occupied with her own affairs, and not
even looking at Vasilissa.

Vasilissa returned to the bedroom. She opened
a window. The night was calm, springlike, chilly.
There was a keen smell of acacias. Frogs were

I no Free Lovk

croal^ng with an unfamiliar loudness Vasilissa
at first thought them to be night birds

The sky was dark, and there were man^,
many stars Vasilissa looked at the darkness

of the garden, at the sky, at the stars And
m her soul things grew peaceful and bright.
Forgotten was Saveliev the ** speculator,” for-
gotten were the pm pricks to which Vladimir
involuntarily had Subjected her that day *
Now Vasilissa felt, not in mind, but in heart, that
she was come to him, to her beloved She was
come to help him to “ stand on the straight
path ” If one got mixed up with Nepmen,

one, in spite of oneself, deviated from the path
For that reason had he sent her, Vasia, his fnend-
wife, the summons

Vasilissa remembered that Vladimir had es-
tablished a business, and was proud of it There
indeed one had a worker 1 Now every-

thing seemed to Vasilissa otherwise than it had
done during the daytime Clearer, more intel-
ligible, more cheerful

So deep m thought was Vasilissa that she did
not hear the motor-car drive up, and Volodia
approached over the rugs and tiles until he was
at her very side She started at Volodia’s voice
” What have you been thinking of so much
my little Vasiuk ? Eh ? ”

Volodia bent towards her, and in his eyes there
were anxiety and tenderness

“ You have come, dear one ? I have
been waiting so long 1 ”

And she clasped his neck with her arms

Free Love lOi

^Volodia caught her up as he had been wont to
^o' during the first months of their Ipve, and
carried her about the room like a beloved child . . .

Vasilissa was delighted : Volodia loved her 1
He loved her as of old 1 . . The fool, she !
Why had she been offended with him ever since
the morning ?

Together they drank tea. They carried on a
conversation agreeably, soulnilly. Vasilissa told
him what she thought of Saveliev. It were best
not to cultivate friendship with the man.

Vladimir did not argue with her. He confessed
that he himself did not respect Saveliev. But the
latter was a man very necessary. But for him,
the business would never have been established.
He possessed many old-standing connections ;
merchants trusted him ; through him one could
get “ into contact ” with those merchants. From
him there had come much of what Volodia had
learnt. The man in himself was, if you like it,
only a non-dependable bourgeois of the first rank ;
but for business he was irreplaceable. Hence was
it that Volodia had stood up for him when the
local authorities had, “ with great good sense,”
put him under arrest. Moscow valued him. The
local authorities had been given a fine wigging on
his account . . .

“ But you wrote to me that he is not clean of
hand ? ”

“ What was I to say to you ? He is our agent.
And, of course, he does not forget himself ....
But not more so than others. Besides, others
pilfer, and do not do their business, whereas he

102

Free Love

works not out of compiilsion, but for consaence
sake And he knows ms work, and lo\es it ”
Nevertheless Vladimir promised Vasihssa to
associate less with Saveliev Service was service,
but there was no call to carrj on a friendship as
well

They finished their tea, and, having embraced
again, retired to the bedroom Vladimir pressed
Vasilissa’s head to his heart, kissed her curls, and
said tenderly, meditatively

“ You are such a dear little dove of mine
Could it ev cr become a stranger to me ^ No
other such as you, Vasia, can possibly eiast I
love )ou alone, my Vasia Fury alone ”

Vasihssa arose late \nadimir had long been
at work But Vasihssa was not feeling well
There was a stitch in her side, she was feverish,
and she had started to cough Had she caught a
chill on the journey ? Or had the thing come
just of Itself ? The day was summerlike, kindly
But Vasihssa wrapped herself up in a shawl She
had no desire to sur She would rather not, she
thought, get out of bed Mana Semenovna
amved, crossed her hands on her stomach, stood
in the doorway, and looked at Vasihssa She
seemed to be awaiting something
“ Good morning, Maria Semenovna ’

“ Good morning,’ sheanswereddnlj “What

^ Free Love 103

'would you order for dinner ? Vladimir Ivan-
oyitch said, when he went out, that it was you
who would give me the dinner orders. There
will be guests.”

Yasilissa felt dismayed. Absolutely she did not
know what to order. In her own place, in the
commune, she had sat down always to a Soviet
dinner.

Maria Semenovna saw that Vasilissa was
genuinely “ neither here nor there,” so herself
proposed some dishes. Vasilissa approved of all
of them. Only did she enquire as to prices :
would that not be very dear ? Maria Semenovna
compressed her lips.

” Well, if one wants a good dinner, one mustn’t
spare the money. Without money, nowadays,
one can get nothing. The Communists have done
away with those rations.”

“ And have you any money ? ”

“ A little is left over from yesterday. I have
not enough for to-day. Meat is expensive, and I
•shall have to buy meat.”

" Vladimir Ivanovitch did not leave you any
money, I suppose ? ”

” No, none. He said : ‘ Go to Vasilissa

Dementievna ; talk with her about it all.’ ”

What was to be done ? Maria Semenovna was
standing, awaiting money, not departing. Vasi-
lissa had a little cash of her own put by, but, in
view of such housekeeping, this would swiftly
swim away, and she herself be left without a
groat. It was awkward.

” Maybe,” said Maria Semenovna, ” you had

104 ho'vs

best, if you have any money of )Our own, hand it
me for the housekeeping as * credit,’ and ask
Vladimir Ivanovitch for it back again later He
will believe >ou ”

Just the thing 1 Why had she not thought of
it for herself ^

So they decided thus

Maria Semenovna departed And Vasihssa
went out into the garden She walked, walked
along the paths She was tired She was not
well Then she lay down upon the bed again,
took up a book And over the book she fell

asleep

Vasihssa lay, tossed to and fro Patches were
burning m her cheeks Heavy, stiHing dreams
kept tormenting her She opened her e)es,
and looked around She felt angrj with herself
for lying there She ought, rather, to be going
to see about things in the town She had not
come to Volodia’s just to be ill I Yet she had
no desire to raise her head She closed her eyes,
and at once her thoughts became confused The
sleep was not sleep, the lethargy not lethargy
But also there was not recollection m full

Vasihssa Dementievna I Soon Vladimir Ivan-
ovitch will be home to dinner You had best
change your dress whilst I rearrange the bed He
does not like untidiness in the rooms ’

Free Love 105

' It was Maria Semenovna standing over Vasi-
lis'sa, like an elder “ teaching her.”

^ ” Surely it is not so late ? ”

“ Five o’clock ... So you did not have any
luncheon ? I thought to arouse you, but saw that
you were fast asleep. It is all from the journey.
You have got overtired.”

“ Perhaps from the journey, or perhaps I have
caught a chill. I feel shivering, somehow.”

“ You had best put on your woollen dress,
and keep as warm as you can. But what is the
good of the shawl ? In it you merely mufSe
yourself up from the warmth.”

“ But my costume will be unsuitable then ;
my husband will not be pleased.”

'* How will it be unsuitable ? Not the least
scrap in the world. Of course, there are a lot of
creases in the sides, and the waist is not in place
. . . See, that is where the waist is worn .... I too
was a dressmaker once. So I have got a notion
of the fashions. Let me recut the skirt .... Just
for love we’ll remake the whole dress. Vladimir
Ivanovitch shall not recognise it.”

“ Will it be ready for dinner ? ”

“What a thing to expect ! No ; you and I will
do it without hurrying, bit by bit . . . And now do
you put on your black skirt, and, over it, the jacket
from the costume. That will be quite smart.”

Never before had Vasilissa stood so much
before a mirror. Meanwhile Maria Semenovna
wrought upon her a change of style, and stuck
her about with pins where a seam connected.
From somewhere or another she produced a lace

I o6 Free Lcve

collar. The effect obtained was agreeable.
Simple, but neat, Vasilissa herself was pleased.
What would Volodia say ^

She had just finished dressing when Vladimir
arrived with the guests : a fellow member of the
G.P. and his wife On the fellow member there
was a stubbly moustache, and he was dressed in
dandified fashion, with yellow boots, laced to the
knee. And he a “ Communist ” 1 . . . He did not
please Vasilissa His wife was “ all rigged out,”
like a “ street woman ”... Balloon like gown,
white shoes, fur thrown over the shoulders, rings
sparkling on fingers . . . But Vladimir kissed her
hand. He jested Of what were thej speaking ?
It was impossible to catch it. Trifles, all of it.
Yet Volodia inclined himself so politely towards
the guest, and his eyes so playfully did an “ ex-
change of regard” . . .

Vasilissa sat with the colleague from the G,P.
A Communist. Yet what to talk to him about
she had not a notion.

During dinner they again drank wine.
Vladimir and the lady guest tittered together as
she whispered something into his ear. And then
both of ^em laughed outright.

Vasilissa felt uncomfortable. But the husband
paid no attention to the wife. She might not
have been his wife at all. Strange I Disagreeable.

They discussedjestingly the Fasts , . . The lady
guest declared that she believed in God, and,
whilst not observing the Fasts, went to Confession.
What was this ^ A colleague from the GJ*., and
yet he had married a “ believer ” ? . . ,

Free Love 107

Vasilissa frowned. She felt disapproving.
And anger against Volodia caught hold of her.
What sort of friends were these ?

Towards the end of dinner Ivan Ivanovitch
arrived. He announced that Saveliev had taken a
box at the theatre, and invited all.

“ Shall we go, Vasia ? ” Vladimir asked.

“ With Saveliev .? ” Vasilissa tried to catch
her husband’s eyes direct. But he made as
though not understanding her.

“Why, yes; with Nikanov Platonovitch. The
whole company.”

That night a new operetta was due. One would
be amused. It was diverting, people said.

“ No, I will not go.”

" Why not } ”

“ I am not well. I must have caught cold on
the journey.”

Vladimir looked at her.

“ Sure enough, Vasia, what a face you have
got . . . Your eyes have quite fallen in . . . .- Give
me your hand. Ooh ! but the hand is hot . . . .
Of course you must not go . . . And I, in that case,
will not go . . .”

“ Oh, but why should that be Do go.”

The guests also fell to beseeching Vladimir.
They persuaded him. Go to the theatre he
would.

In the hall Vladimir embraced Vasilissa in
everj'one’s presence, and softly whispered to her :
“ You, Vasia, are quite pretty to-night ! ”

He begged Maria Semenovna to “ keep an
eye upon ” Vasilissa.

io8

Free Love

“ Go to bed as soon as possible, Vasia I shall
return early I shall not stay until the end *’

They departed

Vasihssa wandered through the rooms, and
again depression overtook her

Such a life did not please her What in it was
wrong she herself could not define Merely, all
of this was unfamiliar, strange And she herself
was *' strange ’ here, necessary to no one . .
Volodia might love her, but only to a slight degree
were his thoughts about her He caressed,

kissed, and then departed ! It would have been
another matter if he had had to go to a meeting
or to work But to the theatre ! VTiy had he
gone without her ? Had he not seen theatres
enough during the winter ^ Something was
tormenting, gnawing at, Vasihssa She could
not find words as to what Precisely it was, but in
her soul there was discomfort

‘ I will stay for a week,” Vasihssa decided
“ I Will see how things are with Volodia here,
and then depart ”

And at once there arose the questions
whither ? Back home to the house-commune ?
There there no longer remained a room for her —
her garret under the roof To it Grusha, her
friend, the sempstress, had removed Besides
again the Fedoseievs, quarrels, cares , again to
have to ‘ settle the house, again to ha^c to
contend with all And she had not the strength
for It And she had not the faith that one could
save the affair That was the chief thing of all
No, Vasihssa had nowhere to go to

Free Love 109

From the thought there became worse than
ever in her heart the gnawing, the boring, the
gimleting ...

Vasilissa felt cold. She shivered, hid her hands
in her sleeves. Backwards and forwards she
walked through the dark, empty rooms. It
seemed to Vasilissa that in that strange, unwelcome
house some unexpected misfortune was going to
befall . . . Calamity was on the watch.

A presentiment ?

Might, then. Communists believe in presenti-
ment } On the other hand, what, what did all
this mean ? Whence this despondency Intan-
gible, ineluctable, unbidden ?

Vladimir returned early, as he had promised.
Vasilissa was reading a book in bed.

He seated himself near Vasilissa, asked her how
she was. They looked into one another’s eyes.
And Vasilissa found it strange that Vladimir’s
eyes should be so serious and careworn. As
though they had in them a sort of grief.

“ What is the matter with you, Volodia ? How
melancholy you are I . . .”

Volodia thrust his head into the pillow beside
Vasilissa, and said, so pitifully :

“ It is difficult to live, Vasia . . , You do not
know how difficult for me it is 1 You only see
one side of my life . . . And you do not try to

I lO

Free Love

understand me ... If only } ou could have looked
into my heart whilst I was worried dunng the
winter )ou would not have condemned, but have
pitied, me 1 In jou, Vasia, there is a kind little
heart.”

Vasihssa stroked Volodia’s head, and felt sorry
for him She comforted him. And sorry for
Volodia though she was, she was also joyful m
soul It seemed to her that they were grieving
with one spirit, suffering with a common pain . .
It was difficult to act Director over a proletariat
She said to him as much

But Volodia shook his head sadly.

” Not that alone, Vasia — not that . . . Yet
another thing is tormenting me ... It gives me no
rest 1 *’

” A plot against jouJ is it ? ”

Volodia was silent, as though he wanted to
say something, but could not decide to

Vasihssa embraced him

” Tell me, dear one, what is tormenting you ^ ”
She pressed her head to his shoulder,

“What is this smell of scent that is coming
from you so ? When did jou scent yourself like
that ? ” She raised her head, and looked at
Volodia

" Scent ^ ” Volodia seemed confused, and
moved away from Vasihssa “ It must have been
when 1 had myself shaved at the hairdresser’s
to-day He scented me."

Vladimir arose Long, assiduously he lit a cigar-
ette And he went away from Vasihssa He said
that still, that night, he had to sort somejpapers

Free Love

HI

. Vasilissa kept coughing. She was not well.
She was feverish. There was a stitch in her side.
She pulled herself together whenever Vladimir
was present. But he noticed it. The cough would
not let him sleep. Vladimir had to have a bed
made up for him on a sofa in the drawing-room.

The days dragged along. Empty. Without
work. Merely petty domestic cares. Vladimir
was “ near” over the housekeeping, yet demanded
that everything should be “ as is proper.”
Vasilissa spent money of her own upon the house-
keeping ; she disliked hearing it when Volodia
said, as though reproachfully :

“ Surely you have not yet spent all your
money upon the housekeeping One can
never lay by enough for you and the rest here.”

As though it was Vasilissa who invited guests,
and demanded three-course dinners ! Yet Vasi-
lissa could not complain of Volodia. In the other
respect he was solicitous ; Vasilissa’s health
greatly disturbed him. He himself fetched a
doctor. The doctor diagnosed “ debility,” and
also irregularities in the right lung. He bade her
lie more in the sunshine, and feed herself well.
Thereupon Volodia started urging upon Vasilissa
that she must do all that the doctor had said. JVas
she doing it ? Also, he bade Maria Semenovna
look after Vasilissa, that she might eat in due
season. He procured Vasilissa some cocoa. He
himself drove in his motot^car to obtain for

V

112 Free Love

Vasilissa a folding garden chair^ and let her warm
herself in the sunshine, Volodia was attentive.

Whenever he came home he at once sought
Vasilissa Yet they saw but little of one another.
Vladimir was occupied. It was a fevensh time
— the market on edge. Careworn was Volodia,
moody, and, as it were, unhappy . . .

Vasilissa was lying in the mldmg chair on the
lawn, and warming herself, liminating, like a
lizard . She kept turning herself from the
one side to the other. She was simburnt. She
had become like a gipsy woman. It was strange
so to live . with neither work nor cares. Nor
pleasure either. It \Tas like a slumber. Con-
tinually, so It seemed to her — one fell asleep, and
found oneself again '* at home ” In the house-
commune, the Zhilotdiel would be recalled ; the
comrades , Stepan Alcxcivitch ; Grusha , . ,
Even Madame Fedoseiev Life had been difficult
there, but bnghter . . .

Vasilissa was awaiting Volodia He had pro-
mised to return early to-day. Vasilissa had kept
fanepng '* To-day Volodia and I will have a
thorough talk about everything Soul to soul.”
But day had succeeded day, and the conversation
had not eventuated. Sometimes there had been
guests, sometimes business

Saveliev showed himself no more. But other
guests did — business managers, alien to Vasihssa.
Uninteresting All their talk turned upon load-
ing and unloading of goods, upon manufactures,
upon parkings, upon discounts, upon accretions
of value.

Free Love

1 13

Vasilissa was lying in the folding chair. She
was looking admiringly at the tree tops — ^how
they stood out against the blue sky . . . Vasi-
lissa was listening to the manner in which grass-
hoppers were chirping in the herbage. In the
depths of the garden birds were singing as though
one were striving against another . . .

Vasilissa arose, walked along an overgrown
path of the garden, pushed her way into some
bushes of flowering lilac. How they smelt 1
She began to tie together a bouquet . . . And
beside her, z-z-z ... a bee buzzed, settled
upon a bloom of the lilac, and arranged its wings.
“ Oh, the brave one, it is not afraid of a human
being 1 ” smiled Vasilissa. And suddenly all
became so well in her soul, so light, that even she
herself was surprised. She looked about her. She
seemed to be seeing the garden anew . . . The
green herbage . . . The lilac, pink, brilliant,
fragrant . . . The little pond, coated with ooze,
whilst in it frogs croaked, exchanged notes . . .

How fair ! How marvellously fair !

Vasilissa was afraid to stir, afraid lest there
should depart from her heart the unexpected
joyousness, light-winged, bright ... It was as
though until that hour Vasilissa had never known,
never felt, never understood what it meant
“ to live.” But now, behold, she did understand.
Not to fret, not to hurry, not to work, not to enjoy
oneself, not to strive, but just to live . . . To
live like the little bee that was circling over the
lilac ; like the birds that were exchanging
warblings amongst the boughs ; like the

II

1 14 Free Love

erasshoppersthatwerechirpingm the herbage . . . .
To live J . , To live \ . . To live J , . Whj'
could she not remain wholly-, for ever amongst
the lilac bushes ? Why could not the human
being become as God's other creatures ? She
bethought her of the word “ God’s,” and felt
vexed with herself. Since when had she taken to
remembering God ? It was all due to lack of
employment , . . To a “ bourgeois life ” on
Volodia’s substance. In this way one could
convert oneself into a veritable Nepman’s lady.

Vasilissa hastened towards the house ; she
wanted no longer to luxuriate in the garden.

But the sense of joyousness did not pass.
There was a sort of lightness m her. Could it
merely be that strength had accrued to her, her
health returned?

She had scarcely reached the bedroom, and
placed the lilac in a vase, when Vladimir drove up
in his motor-car.

And straight to Vasilissa he went.

“ They have begun I For a long time past the
mischief-makers, the intriguers, have left me in
peace , . Now they have betaken themselves
to their old game with new energy . . . And
they have just summoned me to the Control
Commission . . . They have hatched a case
against me We will watch out yet , . . We
will yet sec who is to win I "

Vladimir tore about the room, and lodged one
hand behind his back — a sign that he was dis-
turbed.

And they had worked in his “ Anarchism ”

Free Love

1 15

again, and his “ non-amenity to discipline,” and
the devil only knew what else 1 . . One might
burst one’s skin to set a business upon the rails,
yet, in lieu of help, those Ispolkom fellows merely
thought how to sprag the wheels.

“ If again they trap me in this way, I shall
leave the Party. Yes, leave it I shall 1 There
will be no need to threaten me with exclu-
sion 1 . . . ”

Vasilissa saw that the matter was serious. A
pang shot to her heart. Was not this the calamity
which had been on the watch ? But she made no
sign. She consoled Vladimir — ^reasoned with
him.

“ And your precious Stepan Alexeivitch too is
a nice one 1 . . They asked of him a testimonial
to me ... So he, kindly note, could find noth-
ing better to say than to praise me as a worker,
and, as regards the rest, to remark (so I have dis-
covered) that I am terribly ‘ ambitious ’ and
‘ morally unstable ’ ! Are they, then, ecclesias-
tics, that they judge a man not for his work, not
for his affairs, but for his morality ? . . . I
live not ‘ in Communist fashion ’ ! Will they,
then, bid me enrol myself a monk ? And do they
themselves act any better ? By heavens, they do
not bring the Manager of the AgitotdieP to
judgment, although he has abandoned his wife
and three children, and now is married to a street
wench. Is that, in your opinion, permissible ?
Is that, pray, ‘ Communist fashion ’ ? Why only
from me do they demand that I don the cowl ?

•Department of Agitation, of Propaganda.

1 1 6 Free Love

and what business, in any case, have they with
my personal life ? ”

At this point Vasihssa ceased to agree with
Volodia. The K K.» was right : it ill befitted a
Communist to take example from the bourgeois.
A Communist, and a Director at that, ought
himself to be an example for all.

“ Then in what, damn it, do you see my fault ?
Wherein, tell me for heaven's sake, lies my
* non Communism ’ ^ That I do not live in
mire ? That, in duty to the Service, I am obliged
to cultivate acquaintanceship with every sort of
riffraff ^ Then wnte me out an Instruction as to
whom I am to admit to the house 1 As to how
many chairs I am to keep in the house ... As
to how many pairs of trousers a Communist
may possess ..."

Vladimir was boiling He argued with Vasil-
issa. But Vasihssa was glad of the opportunity
of expounding all that, of late, had been accumu-
lating in her soul. She herself did not know well
what was wrong, but merely it seemed to her that
Vladiimr did not live, did not behave, as was
proper for a Communist However, that was what
Vladimir wanted, and she herself did not really
believe that matters would go the worse because
a Director had mirrors and carpets in his abode ! .
She did not believe, on the other hand, that
matters would go any the better because stove-
shelves were shared with Savelievs and so forth,
and Vladimir kissed the hands of puppets” ....

“ And you too 1 . . . Oh, I knew it I . . .

* Presamabl/ Control Committee

Free Love 117

I guessed it was so. You have come not as a
friend, but as a judge. You are singing in unison
with my enemies. So I know now that you despise
me as much as they do . . . Only, why do you
not say it all straight out ? Why conceal your
enmity against me ? Why harass me ? ”

Vladimir had turned pale ; his eyes were
flashing ; in his voice there were offendedness
and rage. Vasilissa could not understand him.
Why had he taken umbrage at her ? Nowadays
one could not get a word in edgeways with him
. . . He had begun to be terribly arrogant ! .
Might he yet be sorry for it ! . . .

“ Ah, Vasia, Vasia ! . . . I had not expected
this of you. I had not thought that you would
desert me at the critical moment . . . Evidently
I calculated amiss . . . Now let everything go
to the devil ! If it means ruin, let it be ruin 1
The end is the same ! ” And he caught at the
table in such a way that the vaseful of lilac tilted
awry . . . Down on to the floor the fragrant
pink bunches fell and scattered themselves, whilst
a diamond stream of water trickled over the silken
tablecloth.

“ Look what you have done ! ”

Vladimir waved a hand, and walked away to a
window. There he stood in sullenness, whilst
in his eyes there was pain. Vasilissa looked at
him, and, as usual — pitied him. It was not easy
for him, Vladimir, to live. And nowadays it was
diflicult for any proletarian to do so. Come,
distinguish : what is regular ? What is per-
missible ? ^

1 1 8 Free Love

* Now, enough, Volodia I Why have you
given way m courage ^ It is early yet The
matter has still to be examined There is no
crime to be imputed to you All the more must
It be your constant insubordination Wait, and
I myself will go to the Committee, and learn the
what and the how Possibly everything yet will
be transformed '*

Vasilissa stood beside Vladimir, laid a hand
upon his shoulder, strove to look into his face
But Vladimir seemed not to notice it He
remained sullen He was thinking his own
thoughts He did not hear Vasilissa What was
the matter with him ? Why had he now become,
as It were, more distant, “ not a comrade ?

Vasilissa fell silent She too became thoughtful
She no longer had joy m her heart Only care
Grey, oppressive

Next day Vasilissa went to the Partkom > The
more she had questioned Vladimir, the more had
she become anxious m soul The accusations
were grave, even if also unfair How, then,
would the matter yet unravel itself ?

Vasilissa walked through the, to her, unfamiliar
town, enquired as to streets of passers by, yet
did not really see the town Her wish was as

'Party Committee

Free Love

119

quickly as possible to reach the Partkom. She
was uneasy in mind.

A detached house. A red flag. The well-
known standard, as though she had been in her
own gubernia.* And suddenly Vasilissa became
joyful, for she had wearied without “ her own
people.” The comrades who came to see ^Hadimir
she did not account members of the Party.

Vasilissa asked where the cabinet of the
Predgubkom* might be. A lad was sitting in
wait for “ enquirers.”

“ Write down who and why. Perhaps he will
receive you to-day, but perhaps he will put you
off until Thursday.”

So much for “ bureaucratism ” ! This did not
please Vasilissa. But there was no help for it.
She seated herself at a table. She filled up a form.

“ Here ! Take that to the Secretary.” And the
form passed from the hands of the lad “ for
enquirers ” into those of a messenger lad. “ And
do you go up the staircase, and then to the right
along the corridor. Go straight through a door
marked ‘ Reception Room.’ Wait there.” The
lad thus explained, and on his face there was
boredom.

But suddenly, all at once, he brightened up :
“ Manka ! Manka ! how come you to be here ? ”

A young girl in a petticoat to her knees and a
smart hat flashed her eyes coquettishly.

“ To see an acquaintance . . , Why should I not
be paying a visit to your Partkom ? ”

* Province.

’President of the Committee of the Gubernia.

120

Free Love

“ A street girl,” Vasilissa deaded, and again
became uncomfortable in soul Once upon a
time such a wench would never ha\e darfd to
call upon an ” acquaintance *' m the Partkoin • •

Vasilissa walked along the lengthy, bnght
corridor , past her flashed male and female
cmplo)ces Life m the Partkom did not Stand
shll All had their work Onij Vasilissa ob-
scured the sky for nothing

In the Reception Room a pri^’atc secretary, n
beardless }outh with an important air, ^sked
Vasilissa her name, and verified it with a list ,
the list a hunchbacked girl kept

” Your turn will not be soon You have no
business by appomtment You will have to
wait ”

Vasilissa seated herself against a wall
too were waiting Some workmen with lean,
tired faces in worn pcajackets They were
conferring together Manifestlj a deputiition
A tall, well-dressed gentleman in spectacles, a
“ spec ’ * of course, was reading an old iiews-
paper An old woman, a worker in a kerchief,
was sitting, sitting, and sighing Hence it
seemed as though she were sapng our siris are
gnevous 1

A Red soldier, healthy, young, rejoicing m Lfe
A peasant in a short jacLet, and, beside him, a
priest in a cassock For what purpose had this
last come to the Partkom ?

“ Your turn, mj father,” just then the secre-
tary said And he admitted the “ father ” to the
'Speaalist.

I2I

Free Love

Predgubkom’s cabinet. “ He belongs to the
Living Church/’ he then explained to the sitters.
“ -A very clever man ! . . He will be extremely
useful.”

There kept running in female employees —
Communists, cropped, in old skirts, businesslike,
preoccupied, with papers for signature, with
questions to the secretary. They whispered with
him, and ran out again.

There entered a fashionably dressed “ pseudo-
barinia,” but, in reality, the wife of a responsible
worker. A non-Party woman. Vasilissa knew
her. She asked at once to be admitted, out of her
turn. She had with her a note from a member
of the Ts.K. * She had come from Moscow. She
had no time to wait. The secretary at first was
firm. At the sight of the Ts.K.’s form he
wavered . . . Then he decided that he must not go
beyond his instructions. Once a matter proved to
be “ personal ” — take your turn, if you please.
The “ pseudo-barinia,” as Vasilissa mentally
called her, was vexed. She could not understand
how such a system Could exist in a province 1 . .
In Moscow they would have admitted her at once.
In Moscow everyone contended with the bureau-
cracy,, but here — otherwise ! What regulations
they had devised ! . . . “ The chinovniks ! ”

She sat down, offended, carefully straightening
the folds of her dress.

There burst into the place a fat man with cap on
back of head, coat unbuttoned, well-fed, boister-
ous. “ A Nepman,” Vasilissa decided.

•Central Committee.

122

Free Love

“ Comrade secretary, what sort of a system is
,this of yours ? My minutes arc precious, for a
shipment is in progress, and you hinder me with
every sort of foolishness, and demand that I fill
up vanous forms . . Take in my name —
Kondrashev *’

And he cocked his nose as complacently as
though he had been " Lenin himself ” Vasilissa
felt all her old hatred of the bourgeois effervesce
m her Here was one who ought to be arrested
and judged That jowl, that jowl, how mean it
was !

The secretary begged pardon It was impos-
sible, he said — instructions . , . The Nepman
would not listen He urged, he demanded He
insisted The secretary went into the cabinet to
" announce " He returned apologetic

“Comrade, the Predgubkom requests j ou to be
seated After two more appointments he will
receive you.”

“ What ways of doing things, the devil
knows ! Just 5 ou try doing business With these
people 1 . And, besides, they make demands
upon us, threaten us . . They curse us for
sabotageurs Who really is the sabotageur is —
a question ”

He wiped the sweat from his face with a hand
kerchief The “ pseudo-barinia ” looked at him
approvingly The gentleman m the spectacles,
the “ Spec ”, looked at both disapprovingly
But the workmen were occupied with their own
busmess They seemed not to have noticed that
the Nepman was creating a stir

Free Love 123

Theirs was the next turn. After them, the
gentleman in spectacles.

It was tedious waiting. Vasilissa walked to a
window. A small garden, and, in it, two children
running about as they chased a dog. Their
ringing, childish voices came borne upward.

“ Catch Bobka by the tail 1 . . He growls . . . .
He won’t bite . . . Bobka ! here ! . . Catch,
catch Bobka I ! . .”

Vasilissa’s turn. The Predgubkom was a small
man. He could not at first be seen behind the
large table. With goatee beard, in spectacles,
shoulders so thin that the bones seemed to
be protruding from under his coat.

He darted at Vasilissa an unfriendly glance,
extended a hand, but did not rise.

“ On what business ? Personal ? ” Drily, as
though Vasilissa had been a “ petitioner.”

“ I have come to introduce myself to the Com-
mittee.” (“ I had better not begin upon Volo-
dia’s'case straight off,” Vasilissa mentally decided.
“ One could not have a plain talk with this man.”)
“ I have only just arrived in the town.”

“ So I had heard. Visiting us for long ? ”

“ On two months leave, but probably, owing
to poor health, I shall be continuing my stay.”

“ Shall you rest, or would you undertake work
of some sort ? ” He put the question, but did not
look at Vasilissa — ^merely examined documents.
He seemed to be meaning : “I have no time to
engage in fiddle-faddle. No time at all.”

“ I could not undertake permanent work. But
you might use me for agitation,”

124 Lo%e

** It would be possible so to use you. Next
week we begin a campaign for passage to a bread
budget. You, I have heard^ are a * Spec.’ on the
housing question ? ” Again he passed a glance over
Vasilissa before again burrowing into his papers.

** I worked for two years on the Zhilotdiel . . .
I organised house-communes.”

“ Indeed I That is interesting Pray teach us
how to transfer house-communes to self redemp-
tion ”

1 could not do that,” Vasihssa replied, with a
shake of the head “ As soon as we began to pass
to self redemption everything went to pieces with
us House-communes should be, rather, schools,
and foster the Communistic spint . .

“ Well, )ou know, I ne\er have time now to
occupy mjself with these matters Do jou give
us a working start, a financial estimate ... So as to
lighten the State Budget But what is that of
yours about carrying on education through hous-
ing methods ^ There you would have a school,
a university ” And the Predgubkom smiled
condescendingly, as from a height. The fact
vexed Vasilissa

She rose abruptly

” Good-bye, comrade,”

“ Until we meet again ” This time he looked
at Vasilissa attentively. Vasilissa, m like fashion,
looked him full m the eyes. Coldly.

** You had better go to the Agitotdiel, and get
yourself registered there Look in also at Sie
Zhenotdiel* , there workers are alwajs wanted ”
‘Wives Oepartment

Free Love 125

“ I should like, besides, . to ask you about
Vladimir Ivanovitch’s affair ? ” As she put the
question she eyed the Predgubkom severely.
I know, she as good as said, that the affair is the
work of your hands ! . . .

“ What can I tell you ? ” the Pred^bkom
replied with a frown as he shifted his cigarette
from the one corner to the other of his twisted
mouth. “ It smacks of gravity. I have heard of
you that you are a Party comrade of very good
calibre .... It is not for me to speak to you of
Vladimir Ivanovitch 1 ”

“ Of what are you accusing him ? Vladimir
Ivanovitch has done nothing criminal, nor ever
could do so.”

“ It depends upon what one calls ‘ crimi-
nal ’ ! . . . But, at the same time, I cannot enter
into this affair. Make enquiries of the K.K. My
respects to you.”

He bowed, and delved again into his papers.
Do not disturb me, he as good as said. You can
see that other business awaits me.

Vasilissa left the President’s room. Sullen.
Angry. In her gubernia they would not have
received even a non-member of the Party thus ! . .
She had gone to her own people, and seemed to
figure there as a stranger. Vladimir was right —
they had made chinovniks of themselves, turned
themselves into Governors . ♦ . .

Vasilissa walked along, and became plunged
in thought. She did not notice it when she
came face to face with a fellow native of her part
of the country. With Mikhailo Pavlovitch,

Free Love

126

an ex worker in the machine department of
the very same factory as once had employed
Vasilissa

“ My fathers I whom do I see the fair
Vasilissa ! My compliments ’*

“ Mikhailo Pavlovitch 1 You dear friend of
mine 1 "

They embraced, exchanged kisses

" Have you come to pay your husband a
visit ^ ”

** And you — what are^oa doing here ?

“ Cleansing the Party I am a member
of the K K I cleanse, cleanse, but still there
remains much uncleanness '*

He laughed into his flaxen beard His eyes
were kindly He was as “hearty” as he had
always been

They were glad of one another Questions
and relations Mikhailo Pavlovitch dragged off
Vasilissa to his “ little cage ” near the Parade
Formerly, in the time of “ the masters,” a waiter
had lived in it When Mikhailo Pavlovitch had
arrived he had settled in it temporanly at first,
and then remained there The “ cage ” was
unostentatious a bed , beside it a basket with
provisions , two chairs a table , on the table,
newspapers, glasses, tobacco , .

The two natives of the same town were glad of
one another , they could not talk suffiacntly
They ran over comrades known to them They
recalled their gubernia’s affairs, as to what was
“ domg well,” and as to what had “ weakened ”
They touched upon the N E J? For Mikhailo

Free Love

127

Pavlovitch the very term stuck in his throat. And
he did not love overmuch the Predgubkom.

“ Petty, and puffs himself. ‘ I,’ and again
‘ I ’ ! . . Of course, he works a lot — energetic, and
no fool . . . But everything must come from him
alone. Like a candle set in a window to show that
‘ I am President ’ 1 That does not please the
workers. They say : ‘ The Convention estab-
lished “ democratisation,” but we have got,
instead, a huge bureaucracy, only a privilegeci
officialclom.’ So intrigue goes on. Groups are
being formed. That hinders the work. It
cleaves the authority of the Party. The Pred-
gubkom ought to be the ‘ uniter ’ of all, a sort
of, as it were, ‘ father,’ quite impartial ....
But this man only harasses the public.”

“ By the way, Mikhailo Pavlovitch, my dear
friend, how is Vladimir’s case getting on ?
VTerein lie the accusations } Are they serious }
Speak of them to me as to a friend.”

Mikhailo Pavlovitch smoothed his flaxen beard.
He took thought. And he acknowledged : that
the case was not, in itself, worth an empty egg
shell. If for such doings Communists now were
to be haled to judgment, it would be necessary to
arraign almost all of them. The whole affair had
begun from the fact that, when Vladimir Ivano-
vitcJi had first arrived, he had not at once come to
an imderstanding with the Predgubkom. Each
of them was ploughing his own furrow. The
Predgubkom ‘ ordered,’ and Vladimir Ivanovitch
‘ did not obey.’ He said — ^myself, if you please
this does not concern. It is in the Party course,

128 JLove

but I am not subject to you — I deal only with the
Khozorgans ^ judge as to how I work ?

Conflicts took place Reference was made to
Moscow, And Moscow, as it were, supported
the Predgubkom, and, on the other hanc^ took
the * Director ’ under its protection Nothing
was gained Both of them figured as in the right •

Then — more Neither the one nor the other
would yield The least thing, and each of them
sent an “ mformation ” to Moscow And so it
went on ... A Commission had been dis-
patched from Moscow, to enquire into the
bickerings The sternest possible resolutions had
been re^stered . . And the Commission had

barely departed when — again the quarrel had
been in progress

Now the matter was being examined m the
K K Mikhailo Pavlovitch himself wanted to
conclude the matter peacefully. The “ Director
was working for himself, as was proper in the
industrial line The Centre was satisfied with
him There were no direct charges against him,
and, m Mikhailo Pavlovitch’s opinion, there
could not be, for he knew the American, the
Anarchist, and could recall him in the gubernia
ever since ^17 They had “ taken counsel ”

together And as for the fact that he ** lived
spaaously,” that his conduct was “ not concilia-
tory,” and his bearing “ not comradely,” who
now was not guilty of these things ^

'■ Presumably, Bolsbevjst for Industrial Organs, or Ins titu Dons

* He translator bas reproduced this paragrapb just as it
stands m the Russian text

Free hove 129

But the Predgubkom and the other members
of the Commission were standing out for “ giving
the case serious procedure.” For showing,
through example of a “ Director,” that the Party
did not stroke one over the head for such
acts. So that others should not get into the
habit.

“ What, then, are those ‘ acts ’ on Vladimir
Ivanovitch’s part ? If it is that he has a luxurious
establishment, the establishment is not Vladimir’s,
but the Treasury’s, the ‘ Director’s.’ ”

“ The matter does not lie only in the establish-
ment. He arouses the doubt ; whence (they say)
the money for living in two houses ? ”

“ How in two houses ? Do you suppose that
Vladimir Ivanovitch has been supporting me as
well ? . . Oh, what a thing to think 1 !• put

by money of my own for housekeeping, if you
want to know 1 For the reason that Vladimir
has not sufficient of his own . . . And his
service demands that there should be dinners
there, and receptions of all kinds.”

Mikhailo Pavlovitch listened to Vasilissa, and
in his eyes there was a sort of pity for her. This
irritated Vasilissa. Why should he pity her .?
Because she was standing up for an “ Anarchist ”?
Mikhailo Pavlovitch had not approved of Vasi-
lissa’s choice at the time when she had allied
herself with Vladimir.

“ Why are you staring at me Do you not
believe me ? And how could you imagine that
I take money from him ? ”

“ What I say, my dear, does not refer to
Kl

130 Free Love

yourself . . . The trouble is that he has all sorts
of unsuitable acquaintances ...”

He spoke, and then looked at Vasilissa as
though to verify what he meant

“ Is It at Saveliev that you are hinting ? ”

“ Well, yes , at him as well . . And at

others ...”

” Saveliev has ceased visiting us . . . Vladi-
mir has promised to have no more to do with him
. . Only in connection with business, of course.

And as for the rest, business necessitates that as
well I He himself does not find many of
those people congenial , they are alien to us
But what can we do ? They take part in the
business — are shareholders, techniaans ...”

M-)es,” drawled MikhaiJo Pavlovitch He
stroked his beard, and reflected.

Vasilissa, meanwhile, told him of much else
that was unintelligible to her. She herself was
confused at times what was wrong, what right ?
Why was a thing possible, yet not proper for a
Communist ? And people became different.
And work — became other than it had been . . .

Vasilissa could have sat long with her fellow
townsman, but Mikhailo Pavlovitch was sent for
— summoned to the K.K

On parting they agreed : that Mikhailo
Pavlovitch should render Vasilissa acquainted
with some “* nice children,” from a factory. And
as regards “ the matter of the Director,” he
Would ponder upon it Only let Vasilissa know •
that if Vladimir went on further as he was doing
now, It would — entail a threat of exclusion.

“ At last, then, my Fury has returned !
Whither has she been to fight ? To the Partkom ?
Well, what did they say there ? ”

Vladimir met Vasilissa actually on the veran-
dah. Manifestly he had been watching for her
at a window.

Vladimir listened to Vasilissa, walked about
the room, smoked. His face was careworn.

“ You say that they accuse me of living in two
houses ? But what business would it be of those
hypocrites, humbugs, if I lived in five .>* Given
accuracy in my routine, and that I do not steal
stock, and that I do not take a single bribe, what
else matters ? ”

Vasilissa stood perplexed again : what meant
that “ two houses ” ?

Concerning Saveliev she insisted firmly. In
that quarter an end must be put to things. Let
Saveliev go to the office. But hither let him not
move a foot. And about the firm’s workers she
asked : was it true that Vladimir “ was rude to ”
them, cursed them foully ?

“ All moonshine 1 Fiddlesticks. Calumny.
Of course, there are times when I exclaim, let
fly some language. For that there is reason !
I do not do it for nothing. It would not do to let
those fellows get too slack. Especially the porters.
They are a lazy, non-conscientious lot.”

Of the fact that exclusion was threatened
Vasilissa did not speak. And certainly it could

132 Free hove

not have been soothing to his spirit On the other
hand, she decided that she herself would now
arrange life m the house “Guests” should no
longer come trailing thither Without necessity
The dinners should be simpler The horse,
the one which Vladimir had bought for himself,
must be sold What use were horses when there
was a motor car ^

And again Vladimir boiled up That horse of
his was a riding and driving horse It would go
even under a lady’s saddle One could not
obtain such a horse nowadays It had been
purchased at second-hand, and cheaply A
horse — well, nowadays a horse was so much
“ capital ”

“ ‘ Capital ' 1 Why should you set out
to become a capitalist ? Give up, Vladimir, these
habits of yours May you not have cause
one day to lament them 1 ’’

* Are you supposing that they will eject me
from the Party What sort of a Party has it
come to be if it ejects for ‘ morals ’ ^ I^t it do
so I I shall merely go on working with the
Khoxorgans I “

Vasilissa could see that he was speaking thus
out of irritation She did not quarrel but she
held to her own, that life must be changed I^et
everything be more modest and quiet And,
above all, let “ undesirable acquaintances ” be
kept at a greater distance Vasilissa promised to
speak to Mikhailo Pavlovitch on the subject, and,
at a ptnth, to go to Toporkov in Moscow

Vasilissa was sitting on the windowsill — so

Free Love

133

thirij pale ... all eyes. And even they were
not looking cheerful.

Vladimir glanced at her. He threw his cigarette
on to the floor. He approached Vasilissa, em-
braced her, pressed her firmly, firmly to his heart.

“ Vasia ! you are my tender friend ! . . Do
not desert me, Vasia, now ! . . Support me
. . . Teach me ... I myself know that I am
in fault ! . . In fault, not before them, but before
you ...”

And he laid his head upon her knees. Like
a “ little one ” ! . .

“ How are you in fault, Volodia } ”

Vladimir did not reply.

“ In the fact that you go against yourself ?
betray your proletarianism . In that you are
guilty, not to me, but to yourself ...”

“ Smrely, Vasia, you do not understand ? You
do not feel } Ah, Vasia, Vasia ! ”

Vladimir moved away from Vasilissa. It was
as though he were vexed. And the next moment,
as though he wished to break off the conversation,
he asked :

“ But is dinner ready .? I am eager for it. I
have not had a bite since morning.^’

Vasilissa was returning from a Convention.
She had attached herself to the mat-making
women. She visited them in their factory. She
was helping an organiser to arrange the work.

134 Love

It vvas pleasant again to work “ with the masses ”
It was as though she had returned home She
and Mikhailo Favlovitch often saw one another
She had formed a friendship with his “ children ”
Not that a group had become welded, but they
held together, and “ warred with the Pred-
gubkpm Also, they did not approve of the
‘ Industrialists ” They merely respected a cer-
tain old man who held the office of Steelcasting
Director He was “ one of us ” he had not
separated himself from the masses, nor ** Gover-
nonsed himself ”

Vladimir’s affair kept failing to come up for
investigation Mikhailo Pavlovitch said that new
material had eventuated — “ not good ” matenal
He advised Vasilissa that Vladimir bad better be
as cautious as possible, and avoid Saveliev
Behind Saveliev c ■ i

toward True, tl ■ ' • ‘

protest, but the
him to carry on as he liked

Anxiety gnawed at Vasilissa’s heart She felt
offended on Vladimir's behalf Especially at
the present time He worked from morning till
night He would come home, and at once sit
down to his account books He was, by instruc
tions from the Centre, reorganising the book
keeping He had invited to help hun a ** Spec ”,
a bank offiaal, and together the two would pore
over the shiny ledgers until three o'clock in the
morning Vladimir was growing thin He had

' Presuiiiabl7, Gosndantvennoe Pravleme, or State .Ad
nunutration

Free Love

135

begun to sleep badly. Naturally : the work now
was double. He was carrying on a responsible
business. And there was plotting, intrigue ! . . .
Vasilissa’s heart ached for him.

Tenderness for him flooded her soul.

No longer did guests frequent the house. Of
Saveliev there came neither word nor hint. He
seemed to have departed somewhere. And better
so. Nor did Vladimir visit either the theatre or
acquaintances. Every evening he was at home.
Careworn, silent, grim.

Vasilissa did not know what to devise to distract
his thoughts. .What to devise to lighten toil for
her friend-husband.

Only at the “ Matmakers ” did she forget
about him — so long as she was at Party work
amongst the women hands there. Their life was
a sorry one. The rate of salary was low, and
constantly opportunity to review its proportions
failed, and constantly the authorities were late
with its payment. The " Industrial Adminis-
tration ” had come to nothing. Poor creatures 1
Vasilissa pressed close to them. She defended the
matmakers’ interests, and set a profsouz' upon its
legs. She advanced matters to the point of an
“ Arbitrational.”

Vasilissa bustled about at the factory, forgot
about everything else, and noted not the day . . .
They would return home on foot — Vasilissa and
the woman organiser, Liza Sorokina. A working-
woman. Young. Sensible. Vasilissa liked her.
As they went they used to confer. They marked
* Professional (trade) union.

136 Free Love

out a ** plan " Whom else to set upon,*' how
to push forward the work to an “ Arbitrational *’
They would amve at Vasihssa’s house before
she was aware of it *

One day she entered, and Vladimir came to
meet her Somehow he looked peculiar that daj —
joyful His e)cs were beaming, a subtle little
£ame was burning in them

As soon as Vasilissa entered he embraced
her

“ Now, Vastuk I Congratulate me 1 A letter
from Moscow I am to recerve a new appoint-
ment Promotion, so to speak I am to super-
intend a whole ‘ region * Only two more months
shall I ha\e to be here Until I ha\e completed
affairs So we shall set the K K ’s nose upon its
face for it I What will the Predgubkom say
now ? *’

“ Do not rejoice too much 1 Take care that
your case docs not injure j our appointment ’*

“ Fiddlesticks I The Centre will not haul me
over to wrong now I have become necessary to
It now ” He exulted like a boy He fondled,
kissed Vasihssa

" Also, my tireless Fury, I ha\c got something
tn store to delight you A little gift 1 ”

Laid out on the bed m the bedroom there was
a length of blue silk, and, beside it, some white
batiste

“ This IS blue silk for a dress for you , Make
yourself smar^ my little dove The grej blue
will suit you And the batiste is for a blouse *’

" For a blouse ? Oh, Volodia, what a thing

Free Love

137

you have thought of ! ” laughed Vasilissa. “ Such
material for a blouse ? ”

“ Just that, seeing that it is white, ladies’
batiste — thin ... . You must not always go
about in your rough hair shirts as though you
were an inflated bladder.”

“ No, but I will make for myself something
better than a blouse . . . And the silk, beautiful
though it is, you have got for me in vain. Good-
nfess, was it for money down ? Why spend for
nothing ? ” Vasilissa shook her head. Volodia’s
gifts were not pleasing to her ; again they spoke
of “ squandering.” Yet she was sorry to ofend
him.

” Do you not like them ? ” Vladimir queried.

“ The material is lovely — there is no denying
that 1 . . . Only, what good is it to me Judge for
yourself.”

“ But to the theatre ”

“ As though I am to go to the theatre with you
as ‘ Madame Directress And Vasilissa

smiled as she imagined herself in a blue gown of
the sort.

” Nevertheless, thank you . . . For your kind-
ness, for your thoughtfulness.”

She raised herself on tiptoe, and embraced
Volodia. She kissed him closely, closely.

“ Ah, Vasiuk ! So you have not yet unlearnt
the way to kiss ? And I had thought you quite to
have fallen out of love with your husband . . .
You have banished me from the bedroom . . .
You never come to me, caress me ...”

“ I never now have time for the two things . . .

13 $ tave

And you ) ourself ha\ e not been in the mind for
It!’'

" But you ha’vc not fallen out of love ? ”

‘*I> \Mthyou?”

” Should you like me to remind you of how
once we usea to make lo\c ^ "

Both of them laughed, as though they had
been parted, and now had met one another again.

Vasilissa was about to hasten " to the Mat-
makers ” But at the scry door of her house she
remembered that she had not gut with her
Bukharin's “ Manual " It was in \^lodia’s book
cupboard She hurried to the cabmet She
opened the glass door of the cupboard, and from a
shelf there rolled down upon her a package It
struck against the floor, and the paper came un-
rolled Vasilissa bent o\ er it, ana felt as though
someone were compressing her heart with pm-
cers exactly such a length of blue silk as Aladi-
mir had given her, exactly such batiste save only
that lacc and open-work covered it in bands
For what ? For whom ^

Surely not ? Vasihssa was afraid to think,
afraid to look the truth m the eyes . . , But the
serpent of jealousy had at once coiled itself about
her heart, and was stimng its poisonous little
tongue

“ He lives m two houses " He had beaime

Free hove , 139

inconstant ... At one moment “ strange,” not
visiting her ; then, suddenly, caressing in the
ejctreme, as though he had been guilty of some-
thing. She remembered how from Volodia, after
the theatre, there had always come an odour of
scent. She remembered how he had dandified
himself before the mirror when he had been going
out for the evening .... There came back to
Vasilissa’s recollection the long-forgotten
“ Sister ” with the pouting lips .... The blood-
stained woman’s bandage . . .

In Vasilissa’s eyes there was a darkness . . .
Her hands had become, as it were, not her own,
numbed all at once . . Her heart was gripped with
unspeakable pain. Was Volodia, the beloved
husband-comrade, deceiving her, his friend,
Vasia ? He was carrying on with women 1
Behind her back ? When she, Vasilissa, was
there ? During a separation — that would have
been another matter . . . One must not ask too
much of a man ! . , But now .... When he was
caressing Vasilissa, when Vasilissa was with him
in whole — in heart, in love, in tenderness ....
What could it mean ? Had he lost his affection
for her ? That could not be I . . Vasilissa’s heart
refused to believe in such a misfortune . . . She
sought straws at which to catch. If he had lost
his affection for her, would he have been so
caressing, attentive to her ? Would he have
called to her, Vasilissa, to come thither ? How
could such a thing befall ? As that Volodia
should fall out of love with Vasilissa ? For they
were akin, grown together .... Friend-comrades !

1^.0 Free Love

Hot?' much the^ had lived through jointly t And
now another misfortune was boding . . Vasia did
not believe it, would not believe it . . And the

serpent of jealousy licked her heart with its
poisonous tongue

Why was he so little at home ^ Why was he
so careworn, gloomy ? Why did he never
" enjoy himself ” on Vasia as he had been wont
to do ^ Why had he caught at the excuse that
Vasilissa*s cough annoyed him to spend his nights
alone ^

Painfully the serpent of jealousy bit at her
heart So painfully that she could have groaned
But Vasilissa feared to listen to the serpent’s
agelong voice Thou hcsf, serpent 1 . Vladimir
loved her, Vasilissa ! He loved her I Othermsc,
would he have caressed her last night as he had
done ^ Perhaps these pieces of matcnal had
been meant for someone else , perhaps Volodia
had to deliver them to someone ? Why had she
jumped to the conclusion that this was hs package
at all ^ It had no writing upon it 1 She herself
had invented the whole thing

Dimly the thought stirred *' He lives m
two houses ”

And shame Ailed her for her distrust, for the
fact that she as judging like “ an old woman,”
" watching her husband ” 1 . . .

But the serpent none the less bit at her heart . . .
Silence, base one I When Wadimir came home
she would ask him about it all. They would talk
It out He Would explain She would learn the
truth

Free Love 141

She possessed herself of the “ Manual,” and
set off for the "Matmakers.” She was late enough
already.

- Vasilissa hurried homeward ; she thought that
she would be late for dinner. So long as she had
been at the mat factory the serpent had lain dor-
mant in her heart. But scarcely had she issued
into the street, and found herself alone, when at
once the base creature stirred . . .

“ He lives in two houses ”... Two equal
lengths of silk, two pieces of batiste . . . Whence
had Volodia come to know that white garments
were made of such batiste } . . Who made them ?
Depraved wenches, and various sorts of Nepmen
with war money . . . And what was it he had said
about Vasilissa’s garments ? “ Hair shirts,”

“ an inflated balloon ”... Was it dress that
mattered ? . . . Once upon a time he would have
loved her in such a blouse ! . . . Once upon a time
he would not have left her on the first evening of
her arrival . . . For a meeting, he had said. But
why had he dandified himself before a mirror ? . . .
Why had he smelt of scent ? . . . Why had he
ceased to look at Vasilissa with subtly happy
eyes ? When Vasilissa reached home she would
at once ask him about it all. Now, tell the truth :
for whom did you lay by the dress material ?
Why did you hide it in the book cupboard ? If

142 ^ree Lovi

n was somebody clse*s material, you should have

{ )ut It on the table Do not dissemble 1 Do not

le I I should never forgive it I
Vasihssa ran up the steps to the verandah
She rang the bell She was in a hurry The
motor-car was in the forecourt already — which
meant that Volodia too had reached home At
once she must get to him, and to his reply She
would never forgive ‘ deception,” never allow
him to play with her as legal husbands played
with unloved wives

Vasihssa fired herself, mated herself to wrath
Why were they so long about opening the
door ^

The latch gave a rattle At last 1
“ Guests to visit us, from Moscow,” Mana
Semenovna announced ‘ Six men We shall
have to feed them all Think of it 1 ”

“ Guests ? Who arc they ? ”

In the drawing room, voices They were
talking eagerly And Vladimir was there, as
host He presented his wife, Vasihssa Demen-
tievna Members of a syndicate, the guests had
brought with them a new plan of work

Vasihssa was for questioning the guests as to
news of Moscow, as to the political process which
now was preoccuppng everybody But Mana
Semenovna came and stood in the doorway, and
covertly beckoned Vasihssa with a hand Mani-
festly some reinforcement with regard to the
housekeeping was needed The pageboy Vasia
was sent out for wine Ivan Ivanovitch departed
for snacks And the grave Mana Semenovna

Free Love 143

herself almost exhausted her energies ; here
one had to roast in the kitchen, there one
had to lay the table. Vasilissa went to her
help. Vladimir always required everything to
be in order. That the table should look “ like
a barin’s.”

Both of them, Maria Semenovna and Vasilissa,
toiled and moiled. It was well, too, when Ivan
Ivanovitch returned, and added his assistance.

Vasilissa had no time to think further of the
blue dress length. And the serpent in her heart
concealed itself. It became quiet. As though
it were not there. Vasilissa’s wish now was to
gratify her husband, so that the Director should
not cut a bad figure before the Syndicalists.

Vasia arrived, panting, with the wine. Ivan
Ivanovitch uncorked the bottles. The table
looked as at Eastertide. Snacks, wine, flowers,
Morozovian napkins, silver-handled knives . . .

They invited the guests to table. Vladimir
eyed it nervously. He rested satisfied. But why
did he not mutely thank Vasilissa with a look .?
And she had striven so ! The serpent reawakened
in her heart, stirred its venomous tongue . . .
Painful this was. Insulting. Depressing.

Vasilissa conversed with the guests. But all
the time she was thinking of the blue dress
length . . . For whom had he meant it } For
whom }

' She glanced at Volodia. In a new way, as at
a stranger. If he should lie to her, deceive her,
he would in very fact become “ a stranger ” 1 . . .
Her own one, her kindred spirit, would have

1 44 Free Love

pitied her. lie would not have let the accursed
serpent coil itself about her heart . ,

All the evening was Vasihssa hustling about
She had to dispose the guests for the night She
sent out the pageboy Vasia for pillows, and
arranged a “ common lodging ” in the cabinet
whilst, as she did so, throwing glance after glance
at the accursed book cupboard In it there was
lying the blue dress length For whom was it
meant ? For whom ? . . .

Vasihssa swept hither and thither She enter-
tained the guests with tea, but they talked all the
while of their own affairs They discussed
species of goods Methods of packing A
specification Estimates
A businesslike party They themselves ex-
merchants Two Communists amongst them
who also had put their hand to trade, and become
real " Red dealers

And Vladimir bloomed He was proud of his
business He had outstripped all others He
had in hand an affair which not even a month
would settle In the merchants respect for him
was manifest They listened to his words But
to the other Managers they paid no attention.

Vasihssa took note of everything At any other
time she would have been delighted for Vladimir’s
sake But to day, as things were, she seemed to
him “ a stranger ” . Business, and agam

^ business, and never a remembrance of her 1
Could he not see how her soul had been torn all
day ^ How the serpent of jealousy had stabbed
her heart continually ? If he deceived her, lied

Free Love 145

to her, Vasilissa, might he not in very truth be
“ not clean of hand ” ? Might the people at the
Partkom not be right in bringing him to answer ?

And what were these Syndicalists discussing ?
One would not learn in a whole day’s length !
Oh that they would leave her face to face with
Vladimir ! At least she would then learn about
the blue dress length . . .

Vasilissa got herself ready for the night. She
was expecting Vladimir. He was to spend the
night with her ; the Syndicalists had taken up
all the other rooms. She kept listening for his
footsteps. Already the guests had parted for the
night. Only did he need yet to give Ivan Ivan-
ovitch his orders for the morrow.

He was coming. Vasilissa’s heart beat. Her
knees shook. She sat down upon the bed. As
soon as he entered she would put the question.

But Vladimir gave her no chance to put the
question. He himself was too full of talk : He
wanted Vasilissa’s advice ; as to how to reorgan-
ise the machine in such a way as to strengthen
the Communists, as to place the Syndicalist-
bourgeois under the heel of members of the
Party.

“ Do you advise me, Vasia. Think it out on
your own account. To-morrow we are going to
look at a new charter together. So do you first

Ll

146 ^ree Love

of all read and consider it. The fat-belUed lot
are making a bid for power, and carrying out a
concealed attack upon us proletarians . . . Never
mind I We shall get them by the whiskers.
The whole problem lies m organising the machine
in such a way that without the Party, without the
Communists — -not a step *’

“ But how about it when you yourself do not
execute the Party’s decrees ? More than once
you have said : * Exclusion from the Party would
be no great misfortune. Even without the Part)'
I shall be able to live ’ 1 ”

“ Never mind what one says in rages,” smiled
Vladimir. “ You yourself can understand that
. . How could I live without the Party ?
Surely one must not sever oneself from it r ”
Vladimir became meditative as he took off his
shoes “ Merely let this silly ‘ case * be taken off
my nund. Then you and 1, Vasia, would live a
pleasant life. You will see what an exemplary
Communist I shall become when they have
transferred me to the new * region ’ I Straight
amongst the Saints shall I be enrolled.”

Vladimir was satisfied to-mght, and not gloomy
as so frequently happened. And his eyes had
in them a subtle little flame
“ Let us go to bed now.”

Vladimir was for extinguishing the lamp
But Vasilissa stayed his hand.

“ No ; wait ... I must ... I wish first
to ask you a question ...”

She raised herself upon her elbow, the better to
see Vladimir’s face. Her heart was throbbing.

Free Love 147

and her voice not as usual. AHadimir became
wary.

“ Ask about whatsoever the matter may be
Well ? ”

Yet he did not look at Vasilissa — ^he looked at
the wall.

“ I want to know . . . Why have you got
those pieces of stuff l}ang in the book cupboard }
The silk, the batiste ...”

“ The silk ? Is it those samples that you are
speaking of ? ”

" Samples there, indeed 1 A dress length, a
large dress length, exactly like the one which you
gave to myself . . . For whom are the things
meant ? For whom ” And she simply hung
upon Wadimir’s face.

“ For whom, do you want to know } Surely
you have guessed already } ”

“ I have not.”

“ Why, it is that Ivan Ivanovitch asked me to
get them for his betrothed . . . He is con-
tinually plaguing me in that way. What I have,
that he too must have 1 . . In everything he
apes me.” Vladimir made the explanation quite
simply, unhurriedly. The blood surged to
Vasilissa’s cheeks. She felt ashamed of herself.

” Ivan Ivanovitch For his betrothed .? . . .
And I had thought ...”

“ What had you thought ? ” smiled Vladimir
as he turned his face to Vasilissa again.

” My dear one, my darling ! . . My Volo-
dika 1 ”

Vasilissa kissed him. How dared she have

1 48 Free Love

harboured thoughts against him ? Not have
believed him, her friend ? Have suspected
him ?

‘ What, I say, had you thought ? Ah,
jou, my little detective , what an inquisitor has
appeared *

Volodia embraced Vasihssa, but in his eyes
there was concern

* Well, but now — for sleep There is no time
for more kissing of one another To morrow
there will be no getting through the business
with our guests I shall have to rise early ”

And he extinguished the lamp

A weight seemed to have been removed from
Vasihssa sheart Yet she had scarcely begun togo
to sleep when the serpent bit at that heart again
Why did he call me his * little detective ’ ^
‘ Inquisitor ’ ? Does that mean that there ts
something to detect ?

Vladimir* ' ’ • t._ . , . , _

But Vasiliss. . • i . . .

the darkness : '

To believe ? Not to believe ? To believe ^
Not to believe ?

The Syndicalists departed And for Vladimir
there began a double task one of reorganisation
Oh that cares could be lessened I Still, there was
Joy also Mikhailo Pavlovitch invited Vasihssa

Free Love 149

to visit him in his “ little cage.” So-and-so —
that from the Centre there had come a secret
instruction that there were no direct ” crimes ”
to be imputed to the Director, and that, as regards
anything more in the matter of want of discipline
and of “ non-model ” behaviour, the affair was,
without publicity and without stir, to be left in
abeyance. It was to be set aside.

Vasilissa heaved a sigh of relief. Very nearly
did ancient usage lead her to say : ‘‘ Thank
God ! ■” She checked herself in time. Mikhailo
Pavlovitch too was glad, principally for Vasilissa’s
sake. He loved her, was sorry for her.

But Vasilissa met with failure in the “ Ar-
bitrational ” : they decided the matter in favour
of the Management. The matmakers seethed.
A strike became hinted at. The Mensheviks
worked, strove under the mask of “ non-Party ”
individuals. They fanned the attitude.

Although Vasilissa w'as coughing, and fever
troubling her, she spent whole days at the mat
factory. She disputed with the Management.
She assailed it. She demanded concessions. She
reasoned with the matmakers. She plunged
completely into the task. She forgot to think of
the blue dress length. There was no time for
that. Only once did Vasilissa feel that the serpent
was alive in her heart. She pulled herself together
— thou shalt not corrode !

It all arose from a dog, from a white poodle.

The pageboy Vasia brought a white poodle to
the house ; on the poodle's head, between the
ears, there was tied a silken bow.

1 5© Free L<ne

“Whose? Whence? Whyhavejou brought

It?”

The pageboy Vasia said that Vladimir Ivan
onfch had ordered that the poodle should
for the time being, in the house It belonged to
Saveliev After Saveliev’s departure the residence
had been empty, and the poodle had pined much
Vasilissa was surpnscd Whence had Vladimir
acqmred such pitifulncss for dogs ^ Surely it
was not to please Saveliev ? And resentment
agamst Saveliev stirred once more \Vhy was
Vladimir continuing to maintain friendship with
him ? W^th a speculator — the rascal I

Vladiimr came home And the poodle twined
Itself around him as though it beheld its “ master '*
Vladimir stroked the poodle launched into a
conversation with it

“ Whence the dog, Volodia ? Saveliev’s ^ ”

“ No such thing I It IS the poodle of the
betrothed of Ivan Ivanovitch , she has gone
away Ivan Ivianovitch has asked me temper
anly to keep it at our place ”

“ But Vasia has said that it u Saveliev’s ”

“ How he confuses True, of recent days the
dog has been m Saveliev’s flat . Vasia fetched it
from there, and so came to the conclusion that it
was Saveliev’s own ”

Vasilissa listened, as though all were simple
and clear But the serpent indisputably wnthed
With a tight coil It enveloped her heart. To
believe ? Not to believe ^

Ivan Ivanovitch arrived Vasilissa tackled
him W^hose the poodle ^

Free Love 1 5 1

Ivan Ivanovitch circumstantially related as to
his betrothed, as to how she had asked him to
“ treasure ” the poodle. But where could he have
done that ? He had no house 1 He had dis-
patched the dog to Saveliev. There there had
been servants only. They had frequently gone
out — shut up the poodle . . .

Possibly it was so.

But Vasilissa did not love the poodle.

’^^adimir Ivanovitch went away for a few days.
On business of the Syndicate. Vasilissa remained
alone. She imagined it would be wearisome. But
the opposite resulted. She remained alone, and,
as it were, grew lighter in soul. More untram-
melled. There was not the heaviness which, in
Vladimir’s presence, pressed upon her heart like
a stone. There was not the dudgeon, concealed,
not expressed to Volodia, because he did not pay
Vasilissa attention. It had been as though Vasilissa
did not exist ! . . She had understood that he was
busy, that his head was preoccupied with other
things, but her heart, her obscure woman’s heart,
had grieved, craved caresses . . .

Without Vladimir things were better. Alone,
thus alone. There was none of that waiting,
listening, and fighting with one’s sense of wrong.

Vasilissa invited her friends : Liza Sorokina,
the “ children ” from the factory, Mikhailo

1^1 Free Ijfie

Pavlovitch She arranged suppers It was

E leasant to Vasilissa to ‘ entertain ’* friends in
er place

After supper they would talk of Party affairs
They walked in the garden They sang in
chorus E\erything was nice All were

pleased And Vasilissa most so of anyone This
was different from carrying on conversations With
the S)mdicalists or Sa\cliev “ in the drawing
room ’’ !

Vasilissa did not notice bow the days passed
without her husband

\nadimir returned by an early tram
He found Vasilissa at tea
Vasilissa leapt up to meet him, but he did not
kiss her — he took her hand, and for long did not
remo\e it from his bps . He raised his head —
m his eyes there were tears Vasihssa’s heart
fell

" What IS the matter with you, Volodia ?
Has anything happened again ? ’*

“ No Vasia , nothing has happened Only, it
is difficult for me to live, Vasia , , , I am tired of
everything ”

He seated himself at the table, rested his head
upon a hard, and let the tears dnp from him
“ But what is the matter with you, Volodia '
What f Tell me, my friend It will relieve you *’
“ It Will relieve me, Vasmk ^ ” Wadimir
quened sorrowfully “ I ha\c thought much,
have racked my brams . . Much, Vasia, have I
suffered No Things will not be better

There is no escape "

Free Love 153

And again Vasilissa’s heart contracted with
painful presentiment.

“ Volodia, do not torture me. Tell, tell me
only the truth .... I cannot go on like this . . .
I am worn out I ... I get no rest . . .” As she
spoke she could not catch the breath in her
bosom. She coughed . . .

“ So you see ! Again you have begun to
cough. How can I discuss things with you } ”
Volodia’s voice sounded half reproachful, half
melancholy.

Vasilissa kept on coughing, and ^Hadimir
frowned. He lit a cigarette.

“ At least drink some tea . . . Then perhaps it
will pass,” Vladimir advised .

“ No ; I will take a lozenge.”

The attack of coughing departed. Vasilissa
gave Vladimir some tea. And he in his usual,
businesslike tone told Vasilissa how difficult it was
to carrj’’ on the business ; the porters now were
becoming clamorous. They were demanding
overtime wages at the highest rate, and lowering
the “ norm ” of labour . . . The Syndicate,
because of them, was incurring losses, whilst
they were using threats. If you do not pay, we —
shall strike ! . . . Perhaps there are inciters at work.
One cannot look after everything. “ I had
scarcely left the train when Ivan Ivanovitch pre-
sented me with the report. A treat indeed :
that one need but go away for a few days, and up
there sprouts a conflict. What were the other
Managers doing with their eyes ? They ought
never to have let things get to ‘ exacerbation.’

I ^4 Free Ijroe

But now trouble is beginning . , And that will

supply fodder to the Gubhom ”

“ So that IS why jou said that it was difficult
to Ine ^ But why no escape ^ Because of the
porters ^ ”

“ Of course Because of what else, did you
think ? "

Vladimir puffed at his cigarette, slowly stirred
his tea with the spoon And again he considered
the confiict. How was he to arrange the matter
so that there should be no scandal, no commo-
tion ? Vasilissa listened with one ear To be-
lieve ? Not to believe? Surely he would not
have wept because of the porters ? That was not
like Vladimir ! Something else had he on his
soul . .

“ The blue dress length ? . . ” The serpent
stirred in her heart Vasilissa would not gn c m
to It \^ery likely Vladimir was tired Thej had
harassed his smil not a little with the " case ”
in the K K Vasilissa acted as her own persuader
She tned to think that Vladimir had no other
cares than business cares That the Managers
and the porters were responsible

Vasilissa hastened homeward from the mat
factory She had insisted upon her point She
had broken the Management They had gone
to oince&sions. The matmakers were exulting

Free Love 155

They had escorted Vasillssa to the gates. But
Vasiiissa knew : that, but for the Predgubkom,
the matter would not have ended thus. Vasiiissa
often saw him now. She had learnt to appreciate
him. A man of determination. And one who
did not bestow blessings upon the Industri-
alists . . .

Vasiiissa approached her house. She looked :
tlie forecourt was crowded with porters. The
din from their voices was continuous. They were
disputing. Spokesmen amongst them were saying
outright : According to the highest rate ! And
none other 1 Otherwise — right about turn, and
down tools. Then let the Management, with its
office staff, do its own pottering.

Vasiiissa inserted herself into tlie thick of the
crowd. She listened. She asked questions.

They recognised Vasiiissa. They hemmed her
about. One tried to overshout another. All in a
body they laid before her their discontent. They
were not paid sufficiently .... The reckoning was
kept irregularly. They pressed upon Vasiiissa,
hurled threats at the Management. Besides,
she was “ the wife of the Director.” Let her
agitate, let her expound the matter to her hus-
band . . . With such a rate of wages, family men
had but the roof over them . . .

Vasiiissa listened, put questions. The com-
plaints were familiar to her, sympathetic, intelli-
gible. A sense of wrong seethed in them. The
Managers, the office staff, lived well, fady, but
from the porters they “ simply stripped the
hide.” And their children lacked even clothing

Free lave

156

. . , The matter could not be left thus. It
was necessary to assail the Management.
Through the union, Without orgamsadon,
Without a plan, nothing would be attained.
** Leaders ’’ were picked out, and Vasilissa and
they conferred. They decided to “ formulate "
their demands on paper. And then, if the
Management would not yield, to proceed to the
" Arbitratjonal '' direct.

Vasilissa grew excited. She forgot her title of
** Wife of the Director.” She took up completely
the porters* affair. How could she not help “ her
own ” With advice ! They were an inexperienced
lot, and had no real guides.

She invited the leaders into the house, that
there they might do the formulation.

They entered. The pioTters walked through
the reception rooms to Vasilissa*s bedroom, and,
as they did so, glanced cosertly at the Directorial
establishment. Only then did Vasilissa consider :
that she ought not to haie brought the porters
Within But to retreat was too late-

They seated therascKcs at Vasihssa’s little
table They *' formulated ”

Thmgs became quieter in the forecourt. The
men ceased to clamour. They waited. They
spht up into groups. They comersed. They
smoked

And suddenly they raised a dm again. A
motor-car had driven up. The Director. And
straight mto the forecourt.

” What sort of proceedings are these r Are
you thinking of holdmg a meetmg ? Hai e you

Free Love

157

come with threats ? With complaints ? ” Vladi-
mir’s voice rolled like thunder. “ I had not
intended to converse with you here i . . This is
my private residence. Go to the Management.
Are you dissatisfied with the wage rate ? Com-
plain to the union ! . . . The Management is not
concerned with that matter. It has other matters,
cares. Do you wish to strike ? It is your own
afiair. If your union so decides — carry on with
the strike. But you will clear out of this straight
away ! . . . I am not going to listen. We can talk
at the Management’s offices.”

Wadimir slammed the front door. He entered
the house. He went straight to the bedroom, to
Vasilissa.

He walked in, and halted dead in the doorway.
Vasilissa and the porters were sitting at the table,
“ formulating ”...

“ So here, again, there is something new .?
Who admitted you ? How dared you thrust
yourselves upon me without asking ? Away !
Away out of this ! ”

“ But, Vladimir Ivanovitch, we did not come
in here of ourselves .... It was your wife . . . .”

“ Away, I say ! If not . .

He had turned pale all over, his eyes were
darting sparks, he was on the point of letting out
with his fists. The porters — ^towards the doorway.

“ Are you mad, Wadimir ? How dare you ? . .
I invited them in ! . . Stop, comrades ; whither
are you going ?”

Vasilissa rushed after the porters. Wadimir
overtook her on the way, and grasped her so

1^8 Pfu Love

painfully by the arm, above the elbow, that
Vasihssa ^ve a loud moan.

“ You invited them in ? Who gave you ]ea\c
to do so ? Who called upon } ou to interfere m
my affairs ^ You are not answerable for the
Syndicate . . If you want to spread a stnke — go
to the mat factory 1 . . .

** Ah 1 . . So 1 . . . You would bully me ^

For the truth ? For going with my brother ^
For not considering your Directonal interests ?
For degrading the conciliation boards ^ "

“ Ugh ! repellent creature . .

It was as though he had lashed Vasilissa with a
whip Repellent ^ She, Vasihssa, repellent ? . . .

The one stood facing the other. With funous
eyes they exchanged looks. Like two enemies . . .

And to the heart there rose desolation, a
desolation unspeakable, keen, deadly . , . Could
this be the end of happiness ^

The parties dispersed. Vladimir departed to
the Management’s offices. And Vasihssa lay
across the bed with face thrust into the silken
quilt She flooded the silk with her tears , . .
But there was no weeping away the sorrow with
tears I

There was not only the sorrow that she should
be repellent, but also the sorrow that they had
become “ strangers,” unintelligible, to one an-
other . . Like two enemies .... As though
in two camps ....

There ensued grey, joyless days. Vladimir
was much at home. But what was the good of
that ? They were, as it were, strangers. They
talked only of what was necessary. Each of them
lived “ self by self.” Vasilissa ailed again. Ivan
Ivanovitch drove for the doctor. The doctor
prescribed ; complete rest, the least possible
agitation.

Vladimir was occupied in business with Ivan
Ivanovitch, and with the Schetovod>, and they
would sit until nightfall in the cabinet. Then they
would issue to supper absent-minded, dull, taciturn.

Liza Sorokina would come running to see
Vasilissa. They would be talking of the “ Mats.”
The mat hands were sorry that Vasilissa was
unwell.

But it was not her illness that troubled Vasilissa;
it was the fact that she and Volodia had become,
as it were, “ strangers.” In no way could they
forget the conflict with the porters. Both of them
could not pardon something in soul.

Vasilissa considered returning to her own
gubernia. She longed for “ home.” But where
now was “ home ” ? Grusha had settled in the
garret under the roof. It would be too small for
two. With one’s parents one could not stay for
long ; they would begin to “ bewail ” their cir-
cumstances, to curse the Bolsheviks .... Whither,
then ? Vasilissa wrote to Grusha to find her a
•Department of Accounts.

158 Vree Love

painfully by the arm, above the elbow, that
Vasihssa gave a loud moan

“ You invited them in ^ Who gave you leave
to do so ^ Who called upon you to interfere m
my affairs ^ You are not answerable for the
Syndicate If you want to spread a strike — go
to the mat factory I ”

** Ah I So I You would bully me ^
For the truth ^ For gomg with my brother ^
For not considering your Directorial interests ^
For degrading the conciliation boards ? **

‘ Ugh 1 repellent creature ”

It was as though he had lashed Vasihssa with a
whip Repellent ^ She, Vasihssa, repellent ?

The one stood facing the other With furious
eyes they exchanged looks Like two enemies
And to the heart there rose desolation, a
desolation unspeakable, keen, deadly Could
this be the end of happiness ^

The parties dispersed Vladimir departed to
the Management s offices And Vasihssa lay
across the bed with face thrust into the silken
quilt She flooded the silk with her tears
But there was no weeping away the sorrow with
tears 1

There was not only the sorrow that she should
be repellent, but also the sorrow that they had
become strangers,” unintelligible, to one an
other Like two enemies As though

in two camps

Free Love

159

There ensued grey, joyless days. Vladimir
was much at home. But what was the good of
that } They were, as it were, strangers. They
talked only of what was necessary. Each of them
lived “ self by self.” Vasilissa ailed again. Ivan
Ivanovitch drove for the doctor. The doctor
prescribed : complete rest, the least possible
agitation.

Vladimir was occupied in business with Ivan
Ivanovitch, and with the Schetovod*, and they
would sit until nightfall in the cabinet. Then they
would issue to supper absent-minded, dull, taciturn.

Liza Sorokina would come running to see
Vasilissa. They would be talking of the “ Mats.”
The mat hands were sorry that Vasilissa was
unwell.

But it was not her illness that troubled Vasilissa;
it was the fact that she and Volodia had become,
as it were, “ strangers.” In no way could they
forget the conflict with the porters. Both of them
could not pardon something in soul.

Vasilissa considered returning to her own
gubernia. She longed for “ home.” But where
now was “ home ” Grusha had settled in the
garret under the roof. It would be too small for
two. With one’s parents one could not stay for
long ; they would begin to “ bewail ” their cir-
cumstances, to curse the Bolsheviks .... Whither,
then ? Vasilissa wrote to Grusha to find her a
'Department of Accounts.

1 6o Free Lave

room And to Stepan Alexeivitch to find her
work, Party workj amongst the masses As soon
as she received an answer she would go What
was there for her to do here ? She was not
necessary any more Volodia was living

tvithout her The days were dragging along,
melancholy, interminable

Summer was in full glow In the garden the
cherries had ripened, the plums were beginning
to cover themselves with blue The perennial
lilies were showing tenderly white on their tall,
slender stems But Vasilissa could not enjoy
anything now As she walked in the garden she
remembered how, in the spnng, she had lam in
the folding chair, and rejoiced m life , so that
now she became sadder than ever

It seemed to Vasilissa that she had never
existed at that time, but another Vasilissa, young,
trustful, happy Something had departed

What ? Vasilissa could not define it, but knew
that it had departed, and one could never recover
It

Sometimes Vladimir would notice from a
Window how indifferent, languid Vasilissa was
looking as, alone, she paced the garden He
would knit his brows And m his eyes there
would be trouble He would stand by the
window And all at once he would turn away,
and sit down again to business with Ivan Ivan
ovitch

And Vasilissa — would sigh Again she had
been disappointed She had expected that
he would come out to her m the garden

Free Love 1 6 1

He had not come. Ah, well ! Evidently he had
no time for Vasilissa I . . . “ Business ” was
of more importance than the pangs of a woman’s
heart 1 . .

Vasilissa awoke with a start. Morning. Vladi-
mir was busy at his chest of drawers, getting
something out of it.

“ What are you doing so early, Volodia ? ”

“ Railway station. To receive a consignment.”

“Yourself?”

“ I have to see to the checking.”

Vladimir proceeded to tie a new tie before a
mirror, and it would not fit. Vasilissa watched
him, and suddenly he seemed to her so near and
dear, so desirable.

“ Let me help you. Come here, Volodia.”

He came obediently. He sat down upon the
bed. Vasilissa tied his tie. The one looked at the
other, and all at once, silently, they embraced.

“ My Vasiuk, little one ! My own, my
own ... It is so painful, so painful to live as
strangers. Surely it is not always going to be like
that,? ” Vladimir asked this last quite pitifully
as he pressed Vasilissa’s curly head to himself.

“ And do you think it does not hurt me
also ? . . One might as well not be alive.”

“ Then why are we quarrelling, Vasia ? ”

“I do not know. Something has arisen
between us.”

Ml

1 62 Free Love

" No, Vasia ! No 1 Nothing can arise between
us , in heart, Vasia, I am yours, only yours
** You have not lost your affection ? "

“ Little fool 1 . . . ” He kissed Vasilissa
" Let us quarrel no longer. It is stupid It
hurts both of us I must not lose you, Vasia
Without you I could not live. So, suppose we
* scratch one another ’ no more ? "

“ Well, will you Directonse no more ^ ”

“ And will you incite the porters against me
no more ? ”

They laughed

" Now, go to sleep 1 If you do not have your
sleep out you will be poorly again all day. I shall
be back in two hours ”

He tucked Vasilissa up, kissed Vasilissa*s eyes,
and departed. And things had become so well at
heart with Vasilissa, Light, light . . . And
Vasilissa slept blissfully, as though joy had
returned, as though that, the chie:^ thing had
not wholly disappeared , . .

Vladimir did not return after the unloading ;
he rang through on the telephone that he
had next to go to the Management's offices
He would be back for dinner, Vasilissa felt
better to-day But she did not go to the mat
factory. She occupied herself with the “ house-
keeping " — she and Maria Semenovna tidied up
the dwelling

Not long before dinner there came another
ring on the telephone Vasilissa approached it.
“ Hullo 1 ”

“ Is Vladimir Ivanovitch at home ? ”

Free Love

163

“ Not yet. Who is speaking ”

“ It is from the Management’s offices.”

“ Then why do you enquire at the house when
he must still be there, wiffi you ? ”

“ He is so no longer ; he has left. Excuse us.”

Again that woman’s voice ! Who could she
be } Vasilissa did not like the voice. It had
frequently called up Volodia during the first few
days after her arrival. Then all at once it had
ceased. Once Vasilissa had asked Ivan Ivanovitch
who it was that kept continually calling up
Vladimir Ivanovitch from the Management’s
offices, and, at that, during working hours.
Ivan Ivanowtch had explained that it was one of
the clerks. Strange 1 Why were the voices so
alike } And again Vasilissa had become uneasy.
The accursed serpent had stirred in her heart . . .
It had made it hurt ! . . .

Vladimir came home to dinner with two of the
other Managers. They were much occupied
with the morning’s consignments. Nevertheless
he did ask Vasilissa how she was feeling. Had
she warmed herself in the sunshine as the doctor
had bidden ?

“ No, I have not warmed myself,” Vasilissa
retorted drily. And then, as though by chance,
she added : “ Again the lady who used constantly
to ring you up from the Management’s offices has
been asking for you on the telephone.”

“ What lady ? ” Vladimir said with eyes
expressive of astonishment. “ From the Manage-
ment’s offices, do you say } Then probably it
was Shelgunova } A * lady,’ indeed ! A

1 64 Free Love

respected dame with a family . . . You should
see her, Vasia ; ever so stout, with a bit of
beard ...”

This was said simply, naturally, but Vasilissa
still worried.

No ; something or another was altogether
otherwise . . .

After dinner the two Managers took their
leave. Vasihssa was glad \ she wanted to spend
the evening with Volodia, and warm herself in
soul . . . That not in vam might the mormng
have boded joy.

But the Managers had only j'ust been seen off
when the telephone bell tinkled in the cabinet.
Vladimir went to the telephone.

** Yes, I,” — abruptly. “ I had asked you not
to telephone," — reproachfully, ” Well, of course,
if family arcumstances should allow." With a
laugh. “ Not on any account . . . Categorically
I forbid it Absolutely. Oh, all right, all right,"
— less firmly. " Only, for no more Aan a very
short time. Au rcvoir."

Vasihssa stood in the next room, and listened.
And again something gnawed sorely at her
heart ....

With whom was he speaking ^ To whom was
he promising '* a very short tune " ? Whom
could he “ forbid ” ? . ,

Vladimir came straight from the cabinet to the
bedroom. Past Vasihssa. As though he did not
notice her. Vasihssa followed him. Vladimir
was touching himself up before the mirror —
combing his hair with a comb.

Free Love 165

“ With whom were you speaking, Volodia,
over the, telephone ? ”

“ With Saveliev.”

“ With Saveliev Has he, then, returned ? ”
“ This morning.”

“ Did you meet him ”

” Why such a questioning, pray tell me ?
You know quite well that I was receiving con-
signments.” Uneasily, vexedly.

“ And now you are for going to him again ?
You have promised him so to do ? ”

“ Yes, I am going to him.”

A silence.

Vasilissa could feel her heart beating ever more
violently, more violently . . . Presently it would
burst. Let it ! The suffering exceeded her
strength. And suddenly she walked up to
Vladimir, and took him fondly by the hand.

“ Volodia ! Do not do this . . . Do not
begin again from the beginning . . . . ”

” How from the beginning ? ” — suspiciously
and nervously.

“ Carrying on with this vagabond-speculator.

. . . They have advised me that the principal
charge against you is that you cultivate acquaint-
anceships with ‘ unsuitable persons ’ . . . ”

” Ah ! . . . And you again from the begin-
ning ? You have always sung the same tune as
your dispensers ! . . . Do you want to wear
me out ? To deprive me of freedom . To
have me sown to your petticoat ? . . ” He boiled
up, and threw off Vasilissa’s hand from his.

“ Stay ! Stay, Vladimir. Of what are you

1 66 Free Love

speaking ^ When have I tried to pin you to my
petticoat ? liecollect yourself ? The person
concerned is not I— it is )ou Do not dig a pit
for yourself . You have enemies enough
And as soon as you begin to cultivate friendship
with Saveliev

" What has Saveliev to do with it ^ ”

“ What has he to do with it ? Arc not jou
going to him ? ” Vasilissa’s eyes questioned
anxiously

“ Of course, to him But what of that ^ I am
going on business Do you understand ? That
IS indispensable **

“ I do not believe it 1 . ** — furiously

“ Put him off until tomorrow , ask huh to meet
you at the offices ”

“ Vasia 1 Now, what a child you are,” — ^with
change of tone " Very well, then , 1 will tell
you the truth Of course, Saveliev is not sending
for me on business We should have settled any
business at the offices Merely, he has got
assembled at his place a small, cheerful company
And he is inviting me to go and play
cards You yourself, Vasia, have seen that
almost for a month past I have been nowhere —
that always it has been home and home, always
business Let me have at least an occasional
rest I Vasia 1 I too am young , I wish
to live I cannot be a skhimnik > ”

" I understand, Volodia,” sadly lowenng her
head " All that is so And in your amusing

• A priest of the severest order, distiagnisied hj Tveanug a
•vestment known as the slhuna

Free Love 167

yourself there is no harm . , . But only, you
understand, you shall not again begin with
Saveliev, a speculator, a villain 1 You yourself
do not respect him . . . What good is he to
you ? Presently it will be mooted : Vladimir
Ivanovitch again is consorting with Saveliev.
And the tale will spread . . . Volodia 1 Dear
one 1 I beseech you, do not go to him to-night 1
. . . Ring him up ; decline ...”

“ What sillinesses 1 ” — ^impatiently. “ If the
Gubkom has time to create judicial cases out
of every acquaintanceship, it is not a Gubkom,
but a dustbin . . . You, Vasia, are exagger-
ating , . .”

“ But what if it is displeasing to me, Volodia,
that you shovJd go to him He does not like
me, I know . . . He purposely invites you, to
spite me ... I heard you explain to him, over
the telephone, that you could go to him ‘ only if
family circumstances allow ’ . . . And both of
you laughed . . . Volodia,” — growing agitated
— “ it hurts me, offends me, that you should
laugh at me with him, with a stranger, and with
whom ? With Saveliev. As though I would not
release you ...”

Well, that is just how it « 1 . . . ”

“ Ah ! That is how you, on your side, put
the question I Very well, then 1 Go to him !
Go . . . But remember ” — she flashed her eyes
angrily — remember that there can be an end to
my patience ... I have extricated you, borne
with you, stood up for you . . . Enough . . .
If you wish — ^go . . . But I know what at the

i68 Free Drae

same time I mean to do I '* Her voice was
hptencal, harsh

“ These feminine hystencs weary me 1 ” —
angnly “ Why have yon got exated ? What is
It you want of me ? ”

Volodia 1 *’ — ^with tears in her voice " Never
have I asked you for anything I To-day, now, I
do ask you for something Staj at home
For your own sake For mine I ”

Oh, you women 1 All on the same stnng 1
You have tired me out I Past Vasilissa, hur
riedly, into the hall The front door slammed
The motor-car hummed

*' Ah 1 ” Vasilissa groaned like a wounded

ammal 1 * A ah 1 A ah 1 ’

' Liza, I have come to you Shelter me
I have Ifft him AJtc^dber ”

Her voice broke off But her eyes were dry
The gnef was too great, — of tears there were
none

* You have left him ? It had long been tunc 1
All of us have been surpnsed at your con
tinuing to put up with him *

He and I, Laza, had become estranged
That IS wherein the trouble lay,’* wailed Vasih&sa
It would be a wonder if you were »ot ‘cs
tranged ’ What in the world makes you
love him ? ”

Free Love

169

Vasilissa did not reply. She herself could not
yet believe in what had happened. But such an
“ affront ” she could not pardon, could not
forget. The first time she had pardoned . . .
And he ? He had as good as stridden over her
corpse. And for what ? For what ? In order
to play cards with a worthless speculator of a
Saveliev and an, in all probability, equally
worthless speculating circle ! . . Vasilissa might
die of grief, and it would be all one to him so long
as he enjoyed himself, amused himself, whenever
he bethought him of doing so . . . And did
that mean love ? And was he a friend-comrade }
And was he a “ Communist ” ? . . .

Liza listened to Vasilissa’s disconnected talk.
And all the time she remained at a loss ; what
exactly had occurred between them ? And what
had Saveliev had to do with it ?

“ What had he had to do with it ? Why, it
all came of him, of that rascally speculator.
Vladimir went to see him ....

“ You think, to see him ? ”

“ Then to see whom else ? Do you suppose
that Vladimir did not ? ”

“ Suppose, indeed ! . . All the town knows
about it ; only you have been as though blind
. . . Or else purposely you would not see . . .
You would not understand ! . . .”

“ What is there to see } Liza ! But tell me ! ”

“ Why, that Vladimir of yours has got a young
lady.”

“ A young lady ? ”

Vasilissa did not at once understand. She

Free Love

170

stared at Liza with eyes grown large In them
there was neither dismay nor grief, but ju^t —
astonishment

“ A young lady, you say ? Who is she,
then?’*

“ Not one of us, not a working-woman , .
One of the offices staff”

” Do you know her ? ”

** I have seen her All the town knows her ”

“ For what reason ? *’

“ Because she flaunts in fine dresses It
IS because of this that the comrades are the lAost
offended with your Vladimir Mikh^ilo

Favlovitch too has told you about these acqua^i^t
anceships How you come not to have been
aware of them— I Well, ) ou are no fool, but m
this matter yoti have shown yourse’ii worse Vhari
the very worst of fools ”

But something else was concerning Vasilissa
“ Does he love her ? *’

“ How can one tell ? He must do, if he has
been carrying on the scandal for so many months
What a fellow he is I . He keeps driving to
see her in her flat in his motor car *'

“ She has a flat of her own ? ”

“ One which will be smarter than yours ”

So that was what “ He lives in two houses *’
had meant I

Now all was clear to Vasilissa Only one thmg
still was vague and that was why Vladimir had
lied to Vasilissa ? Why he had tortured her ?
Why had he deceived her ?

** Then would you have had him come to your

Free Love 17 1

place with his abandoned woman ? Or have
asked leave of you : may I go and see my young
lady ? ... It was your business to keep an eye
open . . . You did not keep an eye open
sufficiently, and were made a fool of — ^you have
only yourself to thank for it.”

“ As though you need keep reminding me that
I have been a fool, Liza 1 . . That is not the
important point . . . The important point is
something else . . . Does he love her, or is it
simply odierwise ? ”

“ Well, what is ‘ simply otherwise ’ } I do
not understand what you are talking about ! . .
Probably he loves her if he is ready to keep her in
everything, and gives her still more expensive
presents ...”

“ You think so ? . . . But I, for my part, do
not know ...”

” You think, in fact, that it is yourself that he
loves ? Do not you deceive yourself, Vasilissa, or
you will be hurt worse still ! He, of course,
values you. You are his wife and a good comrade.
But he does not love you, and has not done so for
long past. Believe me ...”

Vasilissa shook her head.

“ But I, you see, do not believe you ! ”

Liza was angry with Vasiiissa's “ silliness.”
Purposely she told her more about Volodia’s
“ young lady.” A beauty — painted. And
how she dressed herself ! . . . All in silk.
And always cavaliers revolving around her.
Rakes. And Saveliev, in attendance upon her,
was friendly with them. In the evenings they

172 Tree hove

“ revelled *' People declared that Vladimir went
halves with Savehev in the girl’s keep , . ,

For some reason this pained Vasihssa es-
pecially.

Surely Vladimir had not become " such as
that ” ? . . Surely he could not love a “ wan-
ton ” ? Vasiltssa did not believe it ; what one
wants not to believe one does not believe. Some-
thing here was otherwise . . .

But Liza grew the more angry . . .

“ Then don't believe it ... It is your own
affair. Ask anyone you like All will tell you
the same thing . . . She was an offices lady.
A secretary under Saveliev. And then she passed
into the Director’s employ . . . And perhaps
others as well use her. And Rumour runs about
Ivan Ivanovitch. Some of the Managers visit
at her place . . . She is as good as a street girl,
except that she lacks a * ticket ’ . . . Goodness
IS not m demand in Soviet Russia ...”

“ But Vladimir could never have fallen in love
with such a woman,” Vasilissa protested.

“ Why should you think so ^ Men fall in love
with such women precisely. Particularly such a
man as your Vladimir. He has now made it
clear that, the more depraved a woman, the dearer
to him she is.”

" Be quiet, Liza 1 Do not you dare I You do
not know him at all How can 50U judge of
him?”

” Why do you stand up for him ? He has
degraded you, one may say, before the whole town,
you, heigh-ho I are woe-begone on his account,”

Free Love 173

“ Degraded ! . . . It is your owl imagina-
tion that he has degraded me ! ... What have
I to do with the way in which Vladimir behaves !
. . Am I responsible for him ?■ You do not
understand me, Liza. It is not that that is hurting
me ... It is something else altogether ...”

“ The fact that he has fallen out of love with
you is what is hurting you.”

“ Noj Liza ; again I say that it is something
else . . . That, of course, is a wrong as well.
Only, it is not the chief one ... I feel what I
feel, but I cannot express it . . . How could
I ? He and I were comrades, kindred souls,
intimates, and all at once Vladimir hid himself
from me, lied to me . . . He was afraid of me
... Of me Oh, how could he have been so ?
Should I have stood in his way ? Should I have
hindered his lovemaking ? . . Volodia cannot,
cannot have thought that I . . And it follows
that here there is something otherwise ... It
follows that he does not love that woman so very
much ...”

“ Well, she has caused scandal enough,” — and
Liza made a gesture of irritation. ” One cannot
talk sense to you . . . You are too painfully
smitten with your Volodika . . . Beat me,
tread upon me — I still will be your humble wife 1
I still will lick your boots ... I myself am not
like that ! I would have given him such a paying
out for such conduct as, oho ! — well, just you
wait.”

Vasilissa did not argue the point. The more
that Liza condemned Vladimir, the more stoutly

Free Love

174

did Vasdissa stand up for him She tned to show
liza - that his fault lap not in his having set up
a sudarushta*, in his loving another. But in the
factthathehadnottoldhcr, Vasihssa,ofthis , . .
It had been as though she had not been a fnend,
a comrade. As though she had been a stranger
... It followed, did It not, that she had not only
been in very fact a stranger, but one in whom he
had placed no trust ^ In her, in Vasihssa ? . .
Did Liza think that she woidd be like a legal
wife, and stand up for her nghts ^

“ Yes, stand up for them I ** cned Ltza.
“ You arc bound to stand up for them . . .
How dared he befoul you ^ . . And then you
ought to lea^e him for good . . He is not

worthy of you, Vasia , not worth your little
finger ”

Vasihssa disputed this It is always so :
VasUissa herself frequently condemned \^adimir
in her soul, and did not approve of acts of his ;
but just let anyone else assail 'Vladimir, and
Vasihssa rushed across to bis side, and boiled all
over with offendedness on his behalf , . . People
did not understand him ... VasUissa alone knew
"VTadimir, "the Amencan,” throughout . . .
She uttered the we'd " American,'* and only
then, for the first time, gave way to tears . , .
\Tadiinir came back to her mind — as " the
American ” at the time when he had run co-oper-
atiies, when he had stood out fo’" Soviets . . .
Gncf seized upon her . . .

She embraad laza, wept. She was thinking

*Yoci!g bdj-

Free Love i75

not of ■^adimir the Director, but of “ the Amer-
ican ” ; her longing was for him — deadly,
inescapable.

“ I am distressed, Lizanika ... I cannot help
it.”

“ I know, my pet ; I know, my precious
one ... Be patient, Vasilissa. It will pass. With
me too, during the past year, the same thing
happened. But now I can face myself again,
come what may ... It will pass, my little friend.
Everything passes.”

Liza soothed Vasilissa, comforted her. But is
it possible, in such grief, to comfort ?

Vasilissa could not sleep. Liza had lodged her
in her, Liza’s, own bed. Liza herself was perched
on chairs. Liza had been hurrying about all day.
Now she was slumbering soundly. But Vasilissa
kept tossing from side to side — ^now sitting up,
now lying down again. There was no rest for
her. Her thoughts so ran on, so jostled one
another. They kept torturing her, rending her
heart in pieces. As then, on that dreadful nighty
when she had found the blood-stained bandage,
and they had arrested Vladimir ....

Not jealousy was torturing her. The serpent
had taken cover, was not stirring, was, rather,
lying in wait. Volodia’s distrustfulness was what
was torturing her. If it had not been that — she

1 76 Free Love

could have pardoned everything I A man had
not freewill over his heart But still Vasihssa
did not believe that he loved that, the other,
woman 1 She did not believe it I Merely a
** tie ” of a sort had become accomplished He
had lived alone for months Vladimir was hot
blooded She remembered Stesha He had
bound himself And so it had gone on And
the woman would not let him go Liza herself
had said that the woman * drew * upon him
But if she drew upon him she did not love him
It meant that she was merely taking advantage
of him And women of the sort were cun
nmg and dexterous And they did not release
from their toils such an one as Volodia He might
wish to break free, yet could not Vasihssa
remembered now that Vladimir had constantly
gone about looking careworn , she remembered
how inequable he had been now caressing, now
suddenly distant He had been m pain He
himself had been suffering Assuredly 1 Torture
indeed I One might live with a man near and
dear to one, and all the time some villain be hacking
at his legs behind one^s back It came back to
Vasihssa s memory how that more than once
Vladimir had seemed to be wishing to confess
something, and then suddenly had broken off
There had been the morning when the conflict
with the porters had taken place , he had quite
begun then It had been on his tongue, Vasihssa
had felt She herself had been frightened of
something And then, as though of ill luck,
she had started coughing Vladimir had fallen

Free Love i77

silent. It meant that he had “ been sorry ” about
something ? And if he had been soriy it meant
that he loved her. Loved her ? Yes, it could not
be denied, loved her 1 . . . But the blue dress
length ? . . Identical for both .... Now, repellent
wife, I am buying a present for her, for my
beloved beauty, but I will not forget you also,
repellent one . . . Take the silk, and hold your
tongue 1 . . Ugh, the horrible man 1 . . . Vasilissa
clenched her fists as though she were getting ready
actually to join battle with Vladimir. And the
serpent became overjoyed. It coiled itself around
her heart — gnawed ... It nipped with its little
tongue . . . No rest for Vasilissa 1 . . Vasilissa was
in pain. Despondency was stifling her. The
serpent had enveloped her heart. She reflected
that ; of course it was not to Saveliev that he had
gone last night ? And Saveliev had had nothing
to do with it ! So it had merely been an excuse.
To serve as a blind, to serve as “ cover ”...
Vasilissa would never forgive it if indeed it was
because of Saveliev, because of the “ cheerful ”
company, because of the idiotic cards, that he
had stridden across Vasilissa’s soul last night . . .
Forgive, or not forgive — I mean to do as I
like ! . . . Though you die of grief, I am going to
get my own ! . . . For you, repellent one, I will
sacrifice not a jot 1 . . . That, that was what had
hurt most 1 That had been the cause of Vasilissa
leaving her husband. If she had known that he
had a sudarushka, that “ love was whirling him
about,” she would have felt no enmity against
Vladimir. She might have wept, sorrowed, but she
Nl

178 Free Lave

would have understood. As it was, behold, he had,
because of Saveliev, of a base speculator, offended
Vasillssa. She would have understood the
“young lady.” And have pardoned her? As
then with the Sister, and with Stesha ? . . And
would she have liked the white poodle ? And
would she have forgotten about the blue dress
length ? No, such times were not now. TAes
there had been but the one thing *, then soul had
lived in soul. Theriy as comrades, they had gone
to battle hand in hand^ together . . . now-— each
of them self by self . . . What had kept them
together ? The heart. And if Vladimir had
taken away his heart ? What remained ? How
was one to pardon that ? How to forget it ? . .
There one could not forget » . . There one could
not reconcile oneself 1 . . . The grief, what grief it
was . . .

And it seemed to Vasilissa that not a human
being in the world was more unhappy than
Vasilissa . . ,

Liza had just gone out to work in the morning
when the door opened — Maria Semenovna rnadc
her appearance. She had covered her head with a
black lace scarf. She was out of breath. Heat.
Summer at its height.

“ Good day, VasUissa Dementievna, I have
brought you a letter from your husband. He bade
me take a cab for speed. But where will you find
them now ? I am quite exhausted.”

Vasilissa tore open the Managerial envelope
and sheet of paper, whilst her fingers grew cold.
They would not obey her.

Free Love 179

“ Vasia ! what, then, is this ? What are you
doing with me ? Why are you harassing me so
harshly ? Or is it that you want to make a scandal
over the whole ‘ region,’ and so afford food to my
enemies ? And so ruin me completely ? . . You
have said that you are my friend, but in point of
fact you march with my foes. You have placed
all my soul in torment ! . . I cannot live longer
thus 1 . . If you have lost love for me — say so
straight out. Why strike at me from behind a
corner ? You know that I love you alone. All
else, all that people have craftily told you against
me, is fiddlesticks, transient . . . Hear me out 1
I swear to you that I was not at Saveliev’s last
night I I swear that in the place where I was —
I did not prove false to you 1 . . . My heart
always is with you ... I am worried to death.
Vasia ! Pity me. Come to me, that I may look
into your dear eyes, and tell you all. The whole
truth ! . . If you are a comrade and a friend to me
— come you will ... If not — ^farewell ! But know
that without you — I will not live. Your unhappy
Volodia.”

Vasilissa read the letter once, twice. And then
her heart overflowed with sweet joyousness, tears
welled to her eyes. “ Transient.” “ I love you
alone.” Next, resentment against Vladimir
once more seethed up,: she, forsooth, was
harassing him ! She, forsooth, was to pity him !
Whereas he — ^had he pitied ? Had not he
harassed } Vasilissa’s tears dried themselves,
and her pale lips pressed themselves harshly
together. ” Unhappy ” ! One would suppose.

Free Love

180

unhappy 1 All night he had been exchanging
endearments with another woman He had
taken her the blue silk He had not pitied
Vasilissa How she had begged of him last night
— stay here I She had put all her soul into her
eyes ! He had thrown off Vasilissa's hand,
shouted at her ** as at a man ” and departed I
He wrote ‘ I love you alone " 1 He lied 1
He did not love her 1 Fine love indeed Merely
wrongs, merely sorrows What good to Vasihssa
was such love ^ And why, forsooth, did he
write '* Farewell Know that without you 1
will not live ” 1 Surely he was not meditating
something ? Rubbish I He was threatening
So that Vasihssa should relent, so that, like a fool,
she should run to his call

And again, for the third time, Vasihssa read
Volodia’s letter

Maria Semenovna sat grave, seemmgly in
different , wiped the perspiration from her face ,
fanned herself with the kerchief

“ You had only just gone last night when Vladi-
mir Ivanovitch arrived He asked where you
were I said how should I know ^ He went
into the cabinet He sat down to his papers
Then he sent for Ivan Ivanovitch by telephone
They sat together After midnight he came into
the kitchen, ajad asked had you returned ^ I
said — no Agfam he went away He saw off
Ivan Ivanovitch, and passed into the bedroom
There, probably, he read your note 1 heard him
weeping Exhausting himself like a little boy
So he did not lie down all night He walked,

Free Love i8i

walked, walked . . . And this morning he never
drank any tea ; ‘ never mind ’ he said, ‘ I do
not want it.’ Go out and find me Vasilissa
Dementievna. Go round all her friends until you
do find. her. Without her you are not to show
yourself at home again.”

Vasilissa listened, and her heart pinched her.
Her habitual tenderness for Vladimir filled her soul,
flooded her heart with pain. He had been alone
that night. He had waited up for her . . . He had
worried, wept . . . He had called for her, Vasilissa.
And she there, how she had tormented herself 1
She there, how she had strained towards him !
She had been torn with jealousy .... Manifestly,
not yet sundered were the threads which knit
together their hearts ; manifestly, not yet gone
was love ! Why prolong the agony . . Return }
Go to him if only to have an explanation ? . .

“ When you left home, what was Vladimir
Ivanovitch doing ? Was he getting ready to go
to the Management’s offices ”

“ When I left home ? Oh, he had just rung up
his sudarushka on the telephone . . . Probably
he had a mind to share his grief . . . Or, maybe,
his joy . . . Who can make out those men ? They
only want not to have a scandal . . .”

He had rung up the sudarushka ? That
morning Just now } He had sent Vasilissa a
letter, but rung up the sudarushka ? . . Perhaps
Liza was right : he held on to Vasilissa only so
that no scandal should result ? If she had not
been his recognised wife he would not have given
her a glance ! . . And he was summoning her only

i 82 Free Love

so that once more he could lord it over her , . .
No ! Enough I Be silent, foolish heart I Vasi-
lissa was not going to him She was not going to
fall into the snare »

Yet in her ejes, from gnef, there was a dark-
ness

”Tell Vladimir Ivanovitch that there will be
no answer to him. That is all . . And go as
quick!} as possible . , Go then I Now, go I . .

** Well, one can’t go quicker than quickly 1
And to hurry in such matters isn’t the thing,
cither You, Vasihssa Dementievna, should
have thought a bit first Although, of course,
Vladimir Ivanovitch has been guilty towards you,
as towards his spouse, you too haven’t been right
Who would leave a young husband for months
together alone ? And, if you come to think of it,
Vladimir Ivanovitch is a good husband m every-
thing . . . How he concerns himself about
you ! Do you dnnk your cocoa ^ Have I
bought fresh eggs for you ? . , He thinks more
of jour things than, of his own , I am to refuse
you nothing And as regards the women
Well, which of them, of those men, is not
sinful ? You arc his wife , he respects you. But
elsewhere what ? He has paid money, made
gifts, and that is the whole story ! . . ”

Vasdissa listened to Mana Semenovna, and
felt harder than ever in soul ... If it had been
possible for her, Vasihssa, too to think like that,
all would have been simple 1 . . Mana Sem-
enovna did not understand that the fault did not
he in that , . Vladimir was no longer her

Free Love

183

friend. And she had no belief in him . . . And,
with no belief, how could they live together .

“ Will you not wait until evening, Vasilissa
Dementievna ? Shall I go home and tell your
husband that you are ' thinking it over,’ and will
send him an answer this evening ? That would
be the wiser plan. Otherwise, f-r-r ! she has-
decided 1 She has marked me off ! . . One
can make a mistake in heat. Take care that you
aren’t sorry later, don’t bewail yourself.”

“ No, Maria Semenovna ; do not dissuade me.
As I have said, so it shall be. I will not return to
him ... It is ended.”

But her lips were trembling, and tears, large,
bitter, trickling over her sunken cheeks.

“ Well, it is your own affair ! . . There is
my advice, but it is for you to decide.”

Maria Semenovna departed, and Vasilissa
again, like a wounded animal, could have groaned
— ^loudly, at length, so that it could have been
heard all over the house, all down the street.
The end was come. One could not return !
Farewell, Volodia 1 . . . Farewell, beloved I
farewell, desired one 1

Vasilissa’s thin hands stretched themselves
out towards Volodia, her sickened heart reached
in his direction . . . Tears flowed over her pale
cheeks.

But the torturer, reason, said : “ Enough. Go
not. End it. It is time.”

184

Fue Love

Vasihssa wept, wept as she thrust herself into
Liza’s pillows, and fell asleep All night, actually,
had she rot closed her eyes I

She was awakened by a humming Under
the window a motor-car was clattcnng

Whose ^ Had Vladimir himself suddenly
come for her ^ Hope, joy troubled in her heart.

She rushed to the shutters She humed to
open them

Already the pageboy Vasia was standing m
the doorway

A misfortune at our place, Vasilissa Demen-
tievna Vladimir Ivanovitch has poisoned him
hitn "

" What ? What ^ ” Vasilissa darted across
to Vasia, and seized his hand “ Is he dead ? **

'* Not yet , he is alive Only, he is twisting
himself about very much, and sulfenng great
pain He keeps calling for you . So here
has Ivan Ivanovitch sent me to fetch you In the
motor-car ”

Inasmuch as Vasilissa always walked bare-
headed, she at once entered the car Tooth
would not meet tooth , she was shaking as in a
fever

She had killed her beloved 1 She had tortured
him She had had no pity, she had not gone
to his help He had called to her to do so
that morning , how, too, he had called !

Vasihssa’s eyes had become large, set Not

Free Love 185

grief was in them, but, as it were, a sense of
powerlessness to escape. Death.

The pageboy Vasia did not see her eyes.
Briskly he related how the affair had happened.
He was pleased that such a novel, unlooked-for
occurrence had befallen 1

That morning Vladimir Ivanovitch had gone
to the Management’s offices, stayed there for
half an hour, and returned home. He had
entered his cabinet. Vasia had seen him go to a
cupboard where phials were kept for proving
colours “ for fixity.”

Vasia, meanwhile, had been sweeping the
forecourt. Then he had entered the hall and
heard : someone, seemingly, groaning. He had
gone into the cabinet to see who had got in there
. . . And Vladimir Ivanovitch had been lying on
a divan as though a corpse. He had rolled up his
eyes, opened his lips, and found foam in the
mouth . . . Surely a fit had come upon him ! . . ,
Vasia had run for the doctor who lived round
- the corner. The doctor, at the moment, had just
been sitting down to luncheon. But Vasia had
said : so-and-so, a man is dying, and you can
eat your meal later. Twice, too, had they dis-
patched Vasia to the chemist, in the motor-car.
Ivan Ivanovitch also had come running in. The
house had been turned topsy-turvy . . .

Vasilissa listened to Vasia, yet seemed not to
hear him. Vasia had ceased to be. There
existed only — ^Vladimir and his suffering. Vasi-
lissa was distraught by them. Should Vladimir
not recover, life was over for Vasilissa. There

1 8 6 Free Love

would remain but a void A void that would be
stranger than the tomb

Vasilissa and the pageboy entered the hall, ^d
Ivan Ivanovitch happened just then to be seeing
the doctor off
‘ Ahve>

“ We are doing everything that is possible
Until morning one cannot say anything for
certain "

Vasilissa advanced on tiptoe into the bedroom
She was met with groans from Volodia which
kept growing ever more and more distinct
And It seemed to Vasilissa as though it were she
herself that was groaning Indeed, could Vl^di
mir exist separately from her, from Vasilissa ^

In the bedroom there was disorder to an
wonted degree Carpet rolled up^ bed shifted
position But the bed vras empty Where, then,
was Volodia ? Something large, white, long was
on a divan The face greyish-blue The
eyes closed The groans suddenly ceased
What was this ^ Was he dead ?

“ Volodia 1 Volodia I
The doctor turned upon her angrily
Hush I beg of you, no hysterics "
The doctor then busied himself over VladiiP^r,
and there helped him a Sister in a white scarf
The faces of both were grave, severe Neither
of them would let Vasilissa approach Vladmuf
He opened his eyes, drew several rapid breaths
Alive

Doctor,’ Vasilissa implored in a whisper,
‘ tell me the truth is there hope ^

Free Love 187

“ There is always hope so long as tJie heart
works/’ the doctor jerked out in a dissatisfied
tone, as though Vasilissa were asking him foolish
questions.

What did that mean : so long as the heart
works ? Suppose it should work no longer ?

But she did not dare to ask more. The doctor
was busy ; he and the Sister were raising Vol-
odia’s head, and pouring something into his
mouth. (

And Volodia now was groaning again. With
broken, sobbing groans : “ Oo-oo ! Oo-oo 1
Oo-oo ! . . . ” Vasilissa listened. She felt as
though she could suffer no more. She sat
petrified all over. She seemed to have lost her
senses with pain. It was as though Vasilissa
were not.

Evening came on. It grew dark. They lit
the night lamp in the bedroom. Other doctors
’ arrived. They conferred. They sent the page-
boy Vasia for a permit for special treatment, to
the Zdravootdiel. ‘

Still they would not let Vasilissa approach
Vladimir. And he was calling for her no more.
Now he seerned to have sunk into unconscious-
ness, now he groaned intermittently, heavily . . .
With each groan his spirit might have been about
* Health Department.

i88 Free Love

to leave the body It was as though Vladi

mir’s spint were wamng with the body, and the
body refusing to release the spirit.

Vasihssa now felt superfluous, helpless She
was jostled about amongst the doctors, and did
not know to what to betake herself

And suddenly it flashed up in her mind that
probably rumours were creeping about the town
already People would be saying a Communist,
and made an attempt at stuade I Why?
And a talc would run 1

As quickly, as quickly as possible should the
tale tellings be cut short As quickly as possible
should there be invented the necessary excuse
for the why and the what of the happening^
And at once her Wit suggested he was poisoned
with mushrooms I He ate some for luncheon,
and sec — he is at death’s door 1 Vasihssa
remembered how once, when she was staying
with her grandmother, just such a case had
happened in the village a tailor had come from
the town to see a brother, and picked some mush
rooms, and cooked and eaten them, and died,
Vasihssa rang up on the telephone First of all,
Mikhailo Pavlovitch, to whom she intimated that,
pending more information * when I see jou,’
she would impart to him a calamity namely,
that Vladimir Ivanovitch bad been poisoned with
mushrooms He was lying at death’s door
Next, the Predgubkom Then other comrades
She posted mso Ivan Ivanovitch And he
explained things to the Managers, and let the
offices staff have the news Likewise, Vasihssa

Free Love 189

spent a long time in inculcating into the page- -
boy and Maria Semenovna what they were to
say.

The pageboy, brisk, knowing, sniffed, shrugged
his shoulders, and, for his part — ^was satisfied.
Such an affair had happened i What busings
was it of his ? If with mushrooms, then with
mushrooms ! It was all one.

But Maria Semenovna crossed her hands upon
her stomach, and compressed her lips offendedly.
By no means would she agree to the mushrooms.

“ How could one get such poison from mush-
rooms } Everyone will say : what was the cook
thinking of ? ”

Vasilissa, nevertheless, insisted ; to everyone
already it had been said : that he had eaten some
mushrooms, and fallen sick of them.

“ As you will. Only, they have invented some-
thing altogether beyond reason . . . Something
else it might have been ; but — ^mushrooms 1
Who in the world would prepare bad mush-
rooms ?

Vasilissa left the kitchen. But Maria Sem-
enovna could not calm herself. Angrily she
stirred the pots about.

“ They have made scandal and scandal, and
confusion and confusion. And now they want
to turn the blame upon me. They have cooked
such a broth as even the devil couldn’t eat. And
now, bless my soul, do you gobble it up I They
have made Maria Semenovna the culprit . . .
As though I couldn’t distinguish a bad mushroom
from an eatable one ? As though I ever put a bad

1 go free Love

mushroom into a dish ? To think that I should ever
do such a wrong to a human creature I Twenty
years have I been at the range I am not just a
plain cook — a kitchetimaid serving as a cook !

1 ha\e a whole packet of testimonials alone The
late Madame Gololobov, the General s wife, was
a lady of importance enough, yet she ne\er called
me anj-thing else than * Mana Semenovna '
And the millionaires Pokatilov once ga\c me a
gold watch and chain at Christmas time. Just
for a sauce And now, look you, what hare
people mrented ? ‘ Mana Semcno'ina gave the
Director some bad mushrooms to eat ' 1
I had not expected such an insult — I who ha^'e
seivcd and done my best 1 was sorry for

this V^asilissa here, and more than once I've held
my tongue, in her presence, about her husband s
young sweetheart And herc^s folk’s grab
tude for you 1 Just injustice it is 1
And Communists at that

“ Wh) be so angry and offended, Mana
Semenorna ^ returned Vasia judiciallj as he
stirred his soup with gusto * Isn't it all one,
what they tell us to say ? Besides, anyway you
can t hide truth m a bag And it s not you that
will ha\ e to answer for it It is mcrelj to make the
scandal less that they arc lying about the mush
rooms For mj'self, I m cnjojing it all A

re-e-cgular imi up ! A tragedj I T/freb
a cinema picture for )ou Cheer up I *

Then you find it cheerful, you stupid young
lad I A man dying in there, and you with
jour cheerfulness 1 ^^^lat has come about

Free Love

191

nowadays ? No one respects life . . . Just any-
thing, puff-puff ! and they shoot a man . . . And
they don’t spare their own lives either. And all
because they have forgotten God ! . . .”

“ Now, down with God ! . . . Though I’m not
a Communist, I don’t believe in that God of
yours.”

“ And a great pity that you don’t . . . But why
are you just sitting there, and wagging your
tongue, and doing no work ? Help me clean the
crockery . . . Aye, those rascally doctors ; what a
lot of it they’ve dirtied . . . It’s always tea and
entertainment of all sorts for them ... Yet, all the
same, they can do nothing ... As It has been
ordained of God, so it will be. I said as much to
that hussy who serves Vladimir Ivanovitch’s
sweetheart ... I had just begun to serve supper
to the doctors when she comes running in here
from the back passage. She was rustling her
petticoats, and had tied a muslin bow on her head
that looked like a white butterfly, and was giving
herself airs all over. ‘ My mistress,’ she says,
‘ has sent me to ask how Vladimir Ivanovitch is
getting on.’ ‘ His state,’ I replied, ‘ is such that
he may soon surrender his soul to God, seeing that
God punishes each of us for our sins. So tell your
precious mistress that she had better go to church,
and repent . . . For, by heavens, it is she, and no
one else, who has ruined the man.’ ”

With Vasilissa Maria Semenovna was taciturn,
sparing of words ; but, on the other hand, she
needed but to find any other interlocutor, and to
stop her become impossible 1

In the house everything had suddenly become
hushed - . . Previously, for some days, there had
been bustle, with Managers and collea^es
running m , with doctors holding consultations
, . , Liza would sit with Vasihssa each evening, to
prevent her from fretting in solitude, from
awaiting the issue m solitude . . . What troubled
Liza was that she felt guilty for having egged on
Vasihssa against Vladimir Ivanovitch

" It was not you, Liza ; I myself egged myself
on . . . But when I looked death in the eyes I
realised that nothing in the world was dearer to
me than he I . . . How could I go on living
without him ? And here have I proved his
undoing , .

Now Vasihssa was sitting on Vladimir’s bed,
and resting her curly bead upon a hand. And
she was thinking that if Vladinair should die she
would not be left behind to live . . . The Revolu-
tion ? The Party ? . . . But the Party required
only persons who had no crimes upon their
conscience. And always it would remain with
Vasihssa : that she had destroyed Vladimir 1
And It would have been because of what ? Be-
cause of feminine jealousy I ... If only Vladinur
had indeed concealed fraudulent dealings with a
knave like Saveliev, and so had gone against the
people’s interests, there would still have been
pardon for Vasilissa. But, as it was, she had sent
her fnend to his death because of another woman

Free Love 1 93

And what a friend 1 . . . She had thought : that
he did not love her ! How could he not be loving
her when he had gone as far as he had done, and
devoted himself to death ? It meant, did it not,
that to him, Volodia, too, life would not be
desirable without her, without Vasilissa ? Great
though was the pain in Vasilissa’s heart, the
realisation none the less made her ready to weep.
Not bitterly, but sweetly-repentantly . . .

Vasilissa looked at her beloved husband, and
whispered so tenderly ; “ Do you pardon me,
darling one ? Will you forget my cruelty,
precious one of mine ? ”

Vladimir stirred. Uneasily he turned his head.

“ Some drink . . . Some drink . .

“ In a moment, my own ; in a moment, my
dearest.”

Carefully Vasilissa raised Volodia’s head from
the pillow, as the Sister had taught her to do,
and gave him a beverage.

Vladimir drank. He opened his eyes. He
looked at Vasilissa. He looked, but as tkough he
saw not.

“ Are you better, Volodechka ? ” And Vasi-
lissa bent over him solicitously.

Volodia did not reply. He now opened, now
closed his eyes.

“ Is Ivan Ivanovitch here ? ” — ^in a weak voice.

“ No, he is gone. Do you want him ? ”

He nodded : “ Call him back again ... By
telephone.”

“ But the doctor has forbidden you to occupy
yourself with business.”

Oi.

194

On Vladimir's face there showed themsehes
impatience and suffenng*

“ Do not worry me now Call him back

again " And he closed his e>es

Vasihssa’s heart contracted Why had he said
“ Do not worry me now " ^ Did it mean that he
would not pardon her for having brought him to
the pangs of death ?

VasiUssa duly re summoned Ivan Ivanovitch
When he arrived Vladimir asked Vasihssa to
leave the room He wished to be alone with ^van
Ivanovitch

Vasihssa went out into the garden
A bush of red roses was flowering Dahhas
were brilliant with many colours The sunshine
was hot, and scorched hands, shoulders, head
The garden uas notously overgrown, with honey-
suckle bushes intertwined with lilac, and studded
with tufts And the sky was not blue with the
heat, but like molten silver

Vasihssa walked along the hot pathways
No, Vladimir was not going to forgive hce 1
Not going to forget 1 If only she had come tu his
call that morning — nothing would have happened
She had lost him now, lost him for ever 1 Not as
a husband lover, but as a fnend-coitirade Volodia
would never again trust Vasihssa He would not
consider her ** his stay *'

Vasihssa bent towards the same white afacia
tree which had flowered so nchly with white fufts
in the spring She closed her eyes

Why had she not poisoned herself ^ Why was
she still alive ? . .

Free Love 19^

“ Vasilissa Dementievna ! Vladimir Ivano-
\dtch is calling for you.” This was Ivan
Ivanovitch crying out. He was just entering the
motor-car.

Whither Perhaps with a message to the
sudarushka ? But Vasilissa did not care now.

What has been one cannot restore.

It was hot ; the summer sun was wearisomely
scorching. The lattices were closed. Vladimir
was dozing. Vasilissa was kneeling at her
husband’s bedhead, and driving away the flies.

Let Volodia sleep. Let him rest. He has
been tormented.

In the house there were only Vasilissa and
Volodia. Maria Semenovna had gone out to
make purchases. The pageboy Vasia was out on
leave.

Vasilissa was glad to be alone with Volodia,
It was as though now he belonged wholly to
her, to her and no one else ... So helpless and
weak.

If only he could understand ! If only he could
•look into her heart . . . He would see how warmly
Vasilissa’s heart loved him. How it was wearying,
feeling chilled, craving Volodia’s caresses . . .
Why was Volodia always so silent, sullen with
' her ? Never did he look into her eyes . . . One
could not even rearrange a pillow but that vexedly

196 Free Love

he said ; ** Another Sister of Mercy I To put a
pillow straight is bcjronc! her 1 **

Of course, \sbat could one c:^ct of a sick
man ? Yet, all the same . . . ^Vn7 was it so ?
Was it that he would not forpve her ? Ever ?
And they would remain to hvc together, but
things would be as now — cold at heart, lonely,
painful ?

Vasilissa looked at Vladimir. At the well-
known, dear face. And at the eyelashes — ^like
rays. They were what Vasilissa had first fallen
in love with ... And he with Vastlissa’s braid.
That braid was no longer I . . .

As in the talc ; she had charmed with a lock,
and the lock had been cut off, and her beloved had
departed , . . Yet how they had loved one ano^er !
Then, in 'ry . . . And later, when the “ Whites ”
had been attacking . . . On the night when,
together, he and she had gone to arrest “ con-
spirators ”...

” Even if they lall me, Vasia, mind that you do
jiot set aside the work for a single hour. You
shall do your weeping afterwards.”

" And you the same, Volodia. We give one
another the promise,” They had clasped hands,
looked into one another’s eyes, and gone quickly
to the work . . , And the night had been frosty . . ,
Stars had been scattered about the sky . . . And
over the snow there had gone crunching the foot-
steps of the detachment with which Vasilissa and
Volodia had been marching . . .

As Vasilissa recalled these things her heart
melted and melted as under a ray or past, bright

Free Love 197

happiness . . . Vasilissa had not wept when the
catastrophe had occurred ; she had not com-
plained. She had merely endured. She had
wholly forgotten self. But now the tears flowed
over her cheeks, albeit that they were not tears of
anger, or of bitterness ; they were tears sweetly
melancholy. She was weeping for the past happi-
ness, for the fact that it was gone, and could never
be recovered ... In no way ! At no time 1 . . .

“ Vasia, Vasia ? . . What are you thinking of ? ”
Volodia raised his head from the pillow, and
looked at Vasia, and his eyes were no longer
strange, unseeing, cold, but “ his own,” the
real Volodia, eyes — ^kindly, solicitous, although
sad.

' “ About what is it, Vasiuk ? About what, my

poor one, are you weeping ? ” — and he placed a
hand ever so caressingly upon Vasilissa’s curly
head.

“ Volodia, beloved I My precious one, will
you forgive me Will you forgive me ? ”

“You are a little fool, Vasia . . . What have I
to forgive ? . . Do not weep so. Suppose we have
a talk. Sit here, nearer to me. That is it. We
are living in silence. But both of us are finding it
irksome.”

“ Still, you must not excite yourself ... I am
afraid, dear one. Another time might be better.”

“ No, at another time one would not say one’s
say properly. Let me relieve my mind. I have
been much worried, Vasia. That is why I tried
to leave this life. And now, though I wish again
to live, I see no way out ...”

ijS Free Ltne

“ Let us seek one together, Volodia I I have
not become a stranger to you ”

“ Do you know all, Vasia > '

“ 1 do ” She nodded her head
** Then now you understand my trouble ^
M} pain ^ And you used continually to re-
proadi me for follies You used to inveigh
against Saveliev ”

I know, Volodia ”

‘ And in another matter jou were wrong
you used to think that there was love there, did
you not ? Eut no, Vasia I live to love only
jou, m) angel preserver, my faithful fnend
If JOU like, call it an * attraction ' — anything you
please, save only love And you were jealous of
me, suspected me, spied upon me *’

“ Neier, Volodia — never ! *’

But how ‘ never * ^ Do not you remember
the incident of the dress matenal ^ Do not you
remember how inquisitive jou were as to uhy a
smell of scent came from me ^ Or where does
Saveliev h\e ^ Show, show me I ”

“ I was not plajmg the spj, Volodia That
is not true Conjectures were tortunng me
I used to drive them away, Volodia I did not
want to suspect you I did not want to lose my
belief in jou **

Well, admit the conjectures But, all the
same, you were jealous You did not say so
outright, but you tormented me ^ou

worried me It is no good talking, though 1
Both of us were at fault ”

A silence Both of them were thinking

Fi'ee JLove , ,, iqq

i< . I i ''•.**' ' . c f' ‘ 1 'f

“ Volodia, surely our'life is not going to be like

that now ? ” Vasilissa asked sorrowfully.

“ I do not know, Vasia ... I myself am at
a loss. What to do I have not a notion.”

And again both of them were silent. Much
, was in the minds of both, and yet the one could
not make a way through to the other. A wall had
grown up.

“ Perhaps, Volodia, you would indeed do better
with her, with that other one ? ” Vasilissa
queried cautiously, whilst feeling surprised that
it did not hurt her to put the question.

” Vasia ! Vasia 1 You do not believe me, I
see ! . . Does not even the fact that I faced
death when I realised that I was losing you act
as indicator as to whom I love ? ” There was
reproach not only in the voice, but in the eyes . . .

A heart quivered with joy ; Vasilissa’s brown
eyes became lit up with happiness . . .

“ Volodia 1 My darling husband 1 ”

She fell upon his breast, clasped his neck with
her arms, sought Volodia’s lips.

“ No, you must not act so, Vasia ! Calm
yourself, Vasiuk ! . . You see, I have no
strength . . . And I still cannot kiss ...”

Vladimir smiled, stroked Vasilissa’s head, but
in his eyes there was once more care . . .

No, there was no overthrowing the wall which
had grown up between them. No finding a path
which could lead to the heart of the other through
the thorny thicket of estrangement . . .

200

Free X.ove

Vladimir spent a first day at work again — went
to the Management offices And Vasilissa was
glad of the freedom She hastened, earl) m the
morning, to the Partkom, and thence to the mat
factory Liza had asked her help, for it was
necessary to get ready for a union convention

Vasilissa hurried along to the Partkom, and
smiled to herself It was as though they had let
her out of a cage Vasilissa was glad to see
eserjone, she felt as though she had not seen
the comrades for no one could say how long
And they were glad to see her — they had missed
her All the comrades liked Vasilissa She was
businesslike Not a mischief maker. She
responded to gnef She arrived at the Partkom,
and at once they re-harnessed Vasilissa to work,
the work of annotating theses, of furnishing
materials in company wnth reporters . . .

Vasilissa looked at the clock : my fathers !
eight o’clock Vladimir, by heavens, would long
have been waiting. Would they, without her,
have given him ror dinner everything that the
doctor had ordered ? Vasilissa had forgotten
about this The company walked homeward w ith
Liza, and discussed Muscoiate items which
comrades had brought from the Centre Much
in the Party now was becoming unintelligible
Liza — well, she, for one, “did not agree with
such a line “ She sided with the factory's “ chil-
dren ’’ The latter were presenting candidates of

201

Free Love

their own for the Partkonferentzia again there
would be conflict with the Partkom. Vasilissa
envied her : she herself had come thither, • yet
could take no real part in anything. Not of the
Party, as it were, she was, but only a sympathiser
with it.

“ It all comes of your having made yourself
the Director’s wife. You ought to have gone on
living on your own, and then you could actively
have shared in the work.”

Vasilissa sighed. And she knew it without
Liza telling her. But it was no good thinking of
it now. Once let Vladimir get properly well again,
and she would go and visit her own gubernia.

“ You will not go ! You are tied too fast to
your Vladimir Ivanovitch. You have become a
‘ wife Liza spoke vexedly. But, after all that
Vasilissa had just lived through, she, Vasilissa, did
not mind that. At least Vladimir was alive still ;
at least he was not suffering.

Vasilissa reached home. But there was no
Volodia there.

“ Where is Vladimir Ivanovitch ? Has he not
returned yet ? ”

“ Indeed he returned. He was at home by
three o’clock, and awaited you to dinner . . .
He waited, waited. You did not come. He dined
with Ivan Ivano\ntch. And, not long since, they
departed in the motor-car.” Such Maria Semen-
ovna’s information.

“ Aye, and there’s a note for you on the table.”

Vasilissa caught up the note.

* This Communist term would seem to be self-explanatory.

202

Free Love

" Dear Vasia^ wc have agreed that henceforth
there shall be between us only the truth, and that
jou will always understand me To-night I have
to be * there ' Later 1 will explain to you why, and
you will realise that it has to be thus. Accordme
to our agreement I beg of you not to be distressed
Your Volodia ”

Vasilissa read She let fall her hands

Again ? Then m no way it was ended ? Yet
why should she have thought that it was ended ?
Had Volodia said so ? Had she not known quite
well that Ivan Ivanovitch was flitting hither —
thither, serving as the connection between Volodia
and “ that woman ” ? Volodia was honourably
fulfilling that which she had asked of him
“ the truth, and just the truth alone ” \Vhy>
then, was Vasilissa so hurt ? Why did there arise
again that bitterness of oflfence ; whj did anger
against Volodia stir again, as though again he had
“ deceived '■ her ?

Mana Semenovna was laying the table, and
glanced at Vasilissa with disapproval

" Will you have an) thing to eat ? “ she asked
“ Or maybe jou're brewing trouble again . first
the one does not eat, and then the other one docs
not cat, no matter how one gets ready ! .
And now again quarrels, and tears, just because
the one does not humour the other I As you will,
Vasilissa Dementievna , be angry with me, or
dotCt be angry, but I’ll tell you the truth straight
out you’re not the Vinfe for Vladimir Ivan-
ovitch 1 You’re going to distress yourself
now over his letter, and to shed tears, because he’s

Free Love

203

gone to his sweetheart . . . But I say — do you
go shares in him ! . . . The man, one may say,
has just risen from a deathbed, after taking poison
for your sake, and you, as soon as ever he’s out of
the house, bowl off on your own account ... If
it was on service, that’s another thing. Service
demands its own. But it was, by heavens, just to
wander about amongst your ‘ meetings ’ . . .
To ‘ enlighten ’ our fool-old women ! Before
teaching others you should put things in order in
your own home. There would be time enough
then for you to ‘ ser\^e ’ . . . Not a home this
is, but a regular hovel ! ”

And, slamming the door wrathfully, Maria
Semenovna departed to the kitchen. But a few
minutes later she returned more “ well-inten-
tioned,” with a hot omelette and a tmnblerful of
cocoa.

“ Have a bite, Vasilissa Dementievna, and leave
your thoughts alone . . . Never think over-
much ! . . . ”

Maria Semenovna sat down beside Vasilissa at
the table, and began to recall how a similar
occurrence had befallen in the house of the late
Madame Gololobov, wife of the General ; save
that in that case it had all come of a “ governess,”
of a “ Frenchy.” And later the General and his
lady had become reconciled. And they had lived
together on excellent terms right up to the lady’s
death. And they had even been very happy 1 . . .

Vasilissa listened with one ear only, but did
not cut Maria Semenovna short. During the
time of Vladimir’s illness Vasilissa and Maria

204 Love

Semenovna had “ become fnends together."
Maria Semenovna was sorry for Vasilissa, and
Vasihssa detected in Marla Semenovna a “ kin-
dred ” human being ; she was weary of the
speaahst-doctors, and of the members of the
Management. All of them were bourgeois
But, on the other hand, Vasihssa now had to
listen to Maria Semenovna's interminable tales
of how the millionaires Pokatilov had lived, and
of what " the late General’s lady ” had liked . . .
This bored Vasihssa, but she hesitated to offend
Maria Semenovna The latter was a good soul,
although on first acquaintanceship she had
seemed sullen.

At the present moment Maria Semenovna’s
tales particularly irritated Vasihssa. She wanted
to be left alone She wanted once more to think
it all over. To explain something to herself. To
consider something to the end.

“ Thank you, Mana Semenovna, for the meal.
I will go now, and look through my papers again ”

" But IS that all that you’re going to eat ? If
I’d known that, I should never have got it ready
. . . You are killing yourself, Vasihssa Demen-
tievna, like this 1 And it simply isn’t worth it !
. . Why, to tell the truth, Vladimir Ivanovitch’s
mistress can be pnced at a groat I She's not as
good as your little finger.”

Lira had said the same.

" Why do y ou think that, Maria Semenovna ?
They say that she is very nice-looking.”

** Nice-looldng, indeed ! Painted and pow-
dered like one of your clowns ! And in her mind

Free Love 205

— -just rubbish, and how to get as much out of
men as possible.”

“ Do you know her } Have you seen her } ”

“ How should I not know her ? Until you
came, how many nights did she not spend here,
the jade 1 Fanciful she is. Heat her up water for
the night . . . Serve her with this, sen^’e her
vnth that , . . She plays at being ‘ a lady,’ and
says that from childhood she has been brought up
to the gentry life . . . But all the time she’s
lying. Nothing of the sort ! The real gentry
were polite. Always they said ‘ thank you ’ and
‘ please ’ to their servants, whereas this hussy.
I’d have you to know, just orders : ‘ Give me
such-and-such ! Do such-and-such ! . . . Clear
away ! ’ ”

“ What is her name } ”

“ What is her name ? Nina Konstantinovna.
And she has a fanc}’- surname as well, but I can’t
remember it . . . She is just called, in the town,
Nina Konstantinovna.”

“ I should like to see her for once,” Vasilissa
said meditatively as she turned Volodia’s letter
over and over in her hands.

“ Simple enough ! Every day that there’s
music she walks in the Town Gardens. Let us
go there to-morrow. Let us take a look at this
card queen 1 Many such as she used to walk the
streets in Moscow of a night ...”

” She goes to the music, you say ? Then
suppose we too do go, Maria Semenovna. When I
get a look at her things may become easier for

2o6 Free Leve

Maria Semenovna nodded her head doubt
fully But she did not dissuade Vasilissa She
herself was curious as to how these " nvals ”
would look at one another

Vasihssa walked about the dark dwelling She
did not want to kindle a light Things were
easier in the obscurity

There was no rest for her In the morning all
had seemed well Volodia had been restored to
health, and set about work again And Vasihssa
herself had betaken herself once more to business
Soon she would be departing to her own gubernia
She was not going to make herself in very fact
a ‘ Director’s lady * 1 From the time when she
had made the agreement with Vladimir as to * the
truth ” she had felt lighter in soul Yet now —
again she was fretting It was not exactly that
jealousy was tormenting her , the serpent was
not daring again to raise its head Vladimir had
not sinned against the " agreement He had
told Vasihssa the truth as to a ** fnend " Yet,
all the same, Vasihssa was not comfortable at
heart

Vasihssa reproached herself what more did
she want ? Surely she did not suppose that
Vladimir now had returned to her in whole,
integral, and had altogether ejected “ that
woman ’ from his heart ? There the trouble

Free Love ' 207

lay — that Vasilissa should thus have supposed.
She had hoped so. She had desired so.

But it had worked out ; that something or
another they had not tolerated, and that now they
had returned to that very thing. Again Vladimir
was spending his evenings with “ that woman,”
and Vasilissa was flitting in solitude about the
darkened dwelling . . . Volodia had no pity for
her. He did not spare her. Whom, then, did he
love ? It was impossible to understand. Her,
Vasilissa, the friend-comrade } Or that other
woman, his beauty } He said that he loved
Vasilissa, but in point of fact something else
resulted. These thought-doubts made things
more insistent still. She must know whether, as
she would say to him, he had lost his affection for
her. She would go away. But, as things were,
how was one to go away ? And all at once, per-
haps, to make a mistake again } And all at once,
perhaps, he again to lay hands upon himself ?
No, it was not possible now for Vasilissa to leave
Vladimir ! How could she now, with this pain
in her heart, live at a distance from him ? Things
would be easier in his vicinity . . .

She loved Vladimir, come what might 1 If she
had not loved him, would she have been so dis-
tressed ? Would she so have suffered Would
she so have ached for him ?

She loved him, but ever less and less under-
stood him. They, as it were, were traversing a
forest by two paths which had branched apart on
leaving the open, and, the further that the forest
was entered, were diverging more and more . . .

ao8 Fne Love

She loved Volodia, but, in her soul, kept ever
more and more frequently criticising him Why
had Volodia tied himself to such a woman ? Had
she been one of us," a Communist, it would not
have been so shameful But, as it was, good
gracious 1 She was nothing else than a true
* bourgeoise ” Volodia himself had confessed to
Vasihssa that the woman was an outsider A
baryshma * A dvonanka * Spoilt Did not
understand the Bolsheviks, the Communists
Yearned for the old life Lived in luxury Kept,
of servants alone, in the house, seventeen persons
Had a horse of her own — one for nding, broken
to a lady’s saddle Her father had gone ivith
the Whites Her mother had died at the time of
the Revolution Her brother, an ofiScer, had
disappeared without word left She had remained
alone She had taken a post She knew every
language For work as a " correspondence
clerk she had landed up in the Management’s
offices There Volodia had become acquainted
with her She had fallen in love with Volodia
She had written him letters Vastlissa had been
far away Volodia had always been alone and
alone They had come together In the offices
people had quickly detected it They had
begun to look askance at her, at Nina Konstanti
novna She had given up her post And then
Saveliev had taken her into his service as a sort
of secretary

Only as a sort of secretary ? ’’ Vasihssa had

'tidy

'Woman of the dronuois, or Unded-^nstocratic, dass.

Free Love 209

been unable to help asking. Partly she had
wanted lo “ prick ” Volodia ; partly she had
wanted to learn the truth about “ that woman.”

” Why do you start slanders of that kind ? ” —
Vladimir had fired up, and even turned red.
“ And you are not ashamed, Vasia, to repeat such
vilenesses ? I should not have expected that you
would begin to throw mud at her like an old
woman ! For what reason, Vasia ? . . It is not
like you 1 . . .”

Then he had told Vasilissa that Saveliev stood
to Nina Konstantinovna in place of, as it were, a
father or a guardian. He had been acquainted
with her parents. As Nina had been left alone in
the world, he had taken care of her. He had
helped her with both advice and money. He had
got her the post in the Management’s offices.
Then, when she had left the offices, Saveliev
again had come to her help. She had been without
a room. Whither was she to go 1 To Vladimir’s
— had been impossible. Saveliev had proposed
her living at his own place. Nina Konstantinovna
had not wanted to do so. One might as well go
upon the street ! Then Saveliev had found a self-
contained flatlet, organised it as his personal
offices, and proposed to Nina to quarter herself in
the same . . . Yes, he, Saveliev, was merely a sort
of guardian to Nina. He looked after her, was^
sorry for her . . .

“ And courts her,” again Vasilissa had been
unable to forbear, so '* affectionately ” had
Volodia spoken of “ that woman ” 1 . . Anger had
gripped Vasilissa. He was terribly credulous 1 . .

Pl

210 Frfff Ls'Ve

Whereas Vasilissadidnotbehevein “ that woman
everyone said that she was a wanton ” ! . . .
Again Vladimir had fired up
“ A lie 1 Slanders 1 How do you come to be
so willing to pick up every sort of filth ? . . If you
wish to know the truth ask me. Nina pays atten-
tion to no one . . . Nina loves me alone 1 And
even if it was so ? Nina is a beauty. After her
not Saveliev alone goes trailing . . . Do you know
Makletsov, of the Vnieshtorg* He offered her
diamonds and every species of luxury, but Nina
showed him the door ... I do not deny that
Saveliev may be not indifferent to Nina, and love
her not merely m a fatherly way ; but Nina on
her side, cherishes for him aversion alone , . .
For him as a man, of course. So there cannot be
anything in that quarter. Yes, I assure you ! It
IS impossible to think of it. Oh, I know Nina ! ”
And he had fumed as though he had been
persuading, not Vasilissa, but himself. Vasilissa
had noticed this But what chiefly had offended
her had been the fact that Saveliev was inserted
into everything. Not for nothing had she so
failed to take to him from the first day. Not for
nothing had they said in the K.K . : “ Let
Vladimir Ivanovitch keep further away from him.”

“ However, the point is not that Saveliev is
mixed up with it . , Rather, tales run ; that you
two keep ‘ the sudamshka ’ on common account,
half and half 1 . .

“ And you can spit in the eyes of that, whoever
says It 1 Although you, Vasia, will notunderstand
* Department of Foreign Trade

Free Love

21 1

me, my trouble lies in the fact that I took Nina
as a virgin. She was pure . .

Pure ?

This had been like a fine needle run into Vasi-
lissa’s heart .... That night at tea, in Vasilissa’s
room during the year ’ 17 , he had said : “ I will
give my heart only to a pure maiden ”... And
later, on another night, during the “ honeymoon,”
whilst caressing Vasilissa, he had said : “ A
purer being than you does not exist in the world.”

“ Pure ! What foolishness you chatter, Vladi-
mir I Does the purity of the human being lie
in the body ? You have begun to think in
bourgeois fashion.”

Vasilissa had been vexed ; she had conceived
anger against him.

“ Understand, Vasia, that not I think thus, but
she . . . For her the fact that I took her, yet have
not married her, is a great grief ! . . She now
considers herself ‘ fallen ’ . . . You cannot think
how she worries about it 1 . . To her tears there is
no end . . . You must understand, Vasia, that her
ideas are not according to our own fashion, to the
proletarian fashion. He who first took her, let
that man marry her as well ...”

“ Why have you not told me this before ?
Who is hindering you from marrying her I,
indeed ? ” — ^Vasilissa, in her turn, had fired up.

“ Ah, Vasia, Vasia 1 You are clever enough,
but as soon as the matter comes to love you are a
woman like all the rest ! . . How am I to marry
her when she and I are different, Vasia When
in everything we are unlike ? When I have no

212 Free Love

real affection for her ^ . . Rather, it is pity . . .
Judge for yourself.”

Only pity ? Could that be true ?

Vasilissa’s heart had trembled with Joy. She
had wanted to believe ; “ only pity " ?

** If there is no love or understanding between
you and her, why do )ou keep on with the tie ?
It must be pain for you both 1 ” Vasilissa had
left herself unmentioned.

” But how could I throw her off, Vasia ?
That would not be so simple. If I were to depart,
whither could she betake herself? On to the
street ^ Or to be kept by Saveliev ? Or to
become a registered prostitute ? ”

“ Why should she be kept ? Suppose she
applied herself to work ? ”

” That IS so easy to say ! To work, indeed I
Try seeking work now, when reductions are
taking place everywhere. And what sort of
work ? It would not do for Nina to go into a
factory ! ”

Vasilissa had yearned to cry out : why not
into a factory ? Just think of such a fine lady 1
But she had spared Vladimir, He was still un-
well The doctor had bidden her “ guard ” him,
not agitate him . . . And, even without that, he
had been upset with the conversation, —

But now, as she flitted about the dark dwelling,
Vasilissa wondered regretfully why she had not
cned aloud the truth Why had she not told
Vladimir all that she had thought of that ** woman
deceiver ” ? She did not believe Nina Konstanti-
novna, that she loved Vladimir. Merely she kept

Free Love

CI13

him entangled so that she might reap gain from
two at once . . . Vasilissa did not dislike her be-
cause she appeared to be a “ wanton,” but because
she was not pxxre of heart . . . Besides, there were
“ wantons ” who were better than the most
respectable women in existence. Vasilissa remem-
bered the curly-headed Zinka whom later the
Whites had shot, but who, even when dpng, had
cried ; “ Long live the Soviet Power 1 Long live
the Revolution ! ” A “ street woman ” she had
been, of the lowest category, but as soon as the
Revolution had begun she had, as it were, bright-
ened all over. And she had undertaken the most
warlike and perilous commissions . . . She had
worked on the Cheka. W’ith her ver}* soul.
If Wadimir had loved such a woman Vasilissa
cotild have xmderstood it . , . But a ” baiyshnia,”
a bourgeois lady. One alien . . . And, at that,
“ without heart ”... She was leading Wadimir
by the nose. He, in his credulit)*, bdieved her.
That was what was so vexing ! That was what

was so bitter ! That was what Vasilissa

could never become reconciled to 1 . . .

W^ith what was the woman holding him ? With
pity : I am weak, helpless . . . “ Pure,” too, she
was . . . “ Pure ” ! . . W'ell, since then there had
come to remain of that “ purity ” of hers not a
single blank spot ! Long ago had she smirched
all her “ purity ” with men in return for gifts.
And he still believed in her I And he still
‘‘ pitied ” her ! . . .

Vasilissa boiled in heart. Anger against
“ that woman ” tore her in pieces.

214

“ Vasil jssa Demejitievna, my dear, are )0u
going to bowl up and down the place much
longer ? ” was Marta Semenovna’s brusque in-
terruption of Vasilissa’s thoughts. “ You should
store 70 ur strength. You will find it useful for
your ‘meetings.* Go and he down as you ought to
do. It is no good waiting up for your husband.
If he 13 making love to another woman you will
not be receiving him to your own room, I will
make him up a bed there, in the drawing-room.”

Vasilissa embraced Mana Semenovna. And
then she became still more depressed. A queer
creature, but she was “ sorry for ” her, Vasilissa
. . . And he, the beloved, her husband, fnend—
he was sorry only for that, the other, woman . . .
A woman heartless, cunmngj as encoding as a
snake . . .

” Vasiuk, are you asleep ? ” \nadimir entered
the bedroom, and lit the lamp

Vasilissa was in bed, but her eyes were wide-
open Could one sleep with such pam in one’s
heart ?

“ No, I am not.”

Are you angry with me, Vasiuk ? Are you ? ”

He seated himself upon the bed, and tried to
kiss Vasilissa.

But Vasilissa resolutely turned away.

“ So that is it ! you are angry 1 . , But what
of the agreement ? I have told }0U the truth as

Free Love

215

to a friend • . . , You yourself asked it of me.
And .there results the point of whether lying
might not be better } ”

Vasilissa said nothing.

“ It would not be well, dear one, for us again
to begin reproaching one another, quarrelling
. . . For what reason are you angry ? That I
have been to see Nina ? Remember, Vasia, that
all this time you and I have been inseparable.
And she is alone. Do you suppose that she has
not been worried to excess about my illness ?
That she has not suffered ? ”

Vasilissa could well have exclaimed ; “ And
what about myself ? ” But she closed her lips
firmly. She said nothing. Only her heart beat.
It knocked.

“ Do not imagine, Vasia, that anything has'
happened there. I did not visit her alone, but
with Saveliev. Later Ivan Ivanovitch also arrived
... We had to talk things out ... You want
to know, do you, why I went to her to-night ?
Well, know you shall, Vasia — I went to bid her
farewell . . . What are you looking at ? Do
not you believe me ? Then ask Ivan Ivanovitch.
It was for that that I invited him, so that he should
take upon himself all the necessary steps, help
Nina Konstantinovna to leave here, settle up
about her flat, and so forth.”

“ Where is she going to ? ” Dully, this.

“ To Moscow. Saveliev will escort her thither ;
he has kinsfolk there, and Nina will live with
them. Also, she will seek a post there. Thus
things will be easier for everybody.”

i 1 6 Frtt Lovc

Vasilissa satd nothing, but in her eyes there
was — distrust /

‘ Why, suddenly, such a change ? at leri^h
she asked “ What exactly has happened ?
Have you all at once lost love for her ? ’

* We Will not speak of love That is another
question The point is that Nina herself under
stands that things cannot continue thus To go
to Moscow is Nina’s own decision It has long
been brooding m her She renounced her

Volodika on ^e morning of the very day when
you left me , Nina rang me up, and said that
live longer in this fashion she could not
Either — or 1 Othervfise she must depart

for Moscow ”

Ah, so that was it 1 So now we see the
cause of your taking poison the one woman was
gone, and the other one was threatening )ou —
either marry me or goodbye 1 Now I

understand 1 You were afraid of losing

the other one ? And I, forsooth, was a fool 1
An out and-out fool ! Actually I thought it
is out of gnef for me that he has tried to take his
life 1

Vasilissa smiled an hysterical, cruel smile
How you distort everything now, Vasta 1
What a malicious woman you have become t
You are not at all the old Vasiuk Fury Vladi
mir uttered the words with regret, and rose from
the bed Evidently we sh^l gam nothing by
continuing the conversation Yet I had

wanted to say my say out, so that henceforth
there should be nothing hidden between us

Free Love

217

Well, by this time I perceive that, the more truth
we get, the worse things grow. You have be-
come alien, unkind ! . . ”

“ No I no ! Stay, Volodia do not depart,” —
Vasilissa’s voice had a ring in it as of glass
splinters. It was her anguished heart sounding
a ring of despair. “ If you wish to speak out, then
speak out ! Why are you sending her off to
Moscow It is not I whom you love — it is she !

. . If you loved me you would have stayed with
me to-night ! . . Your care is only for her !
Only her do you pity ! . . . ”

“ Vasia, Vasia, how unfair you have become !
If only you knew how much Nina has suffered of
late . . . Why, Vasia, she is still quite young,
a mere child 1 She has no intimate friend . , ,
All throw mud at her. And why, Vasia ? Be-
cause she has had the misfortune to love me 1 . .
You, Vasia, have the Party and some friends . . .
But she has — only myself. I am her only pro-
tector . . . Her only support.”

Vladimir paced the room with a hand laid
behind his back, and told Vasilissa that Nina
had, at one time, expected a child . . . His
child . . . His— dream 1 . . What joy, and
what sorrow 1

“ Where, then, is the child ? ” Vasia jerked
out.

“ Do you suppose that Nina could have let it
remain ? And there be a scandal ? And grief
on your part ? We safeguarded you, rather . . .
Nina wept, wore herself out . . . But eventu-
ally she and I made that decision, for your

2 1 8 Love

sake, Vasia — ^ycs, that Nina and 1 would go so
far ! ”

For her sake ? He and a stranger woman had
come to an agreement, he and that stranger
woman had “ safeguarded ’* her, Vasia, as though
she had been not a fnend, not a comrade, but
rather, a sort of enemy ^ Volodia had not
come With his trouble to her, but to “ that
woman,” to Nina Surely, then, “that

woman ” was nearer to him ^ Surely, then, not
Vasilissa, but “ that woman,” had come to be
“ his own,’ his intimate, his landred spint ?

" I learnt that Nina was enceinte on the day
of )our first arrival here Now do )ou understand
my trouble, Vasia ? ”

Vasilissa nodded in silence
Vladimir continued his story To ob\nate
gossip, Nina had left the town for a certain other
one Sa\ eliev had arranged things for her there
There she had had an abortion But something
connected with the operation had gone amiss —
there had been a complication Vladimir, there-
fore, had paid her a visit

* That, then, was when the porters struck ^ ”
Yes, approximate!) ”

‘ Hm ” Yes, that was why he had, on
that occasion, wept in the dining room ! Because
of Nina Of course , not because of the
porters

‘ And did she return home on the morning
when Saveliev also returned ? Is that so ?
Vasilissa hazarded further
‘ Yes ”

Free Love

219

“ Of cotirse.”

Both of them fell silent. As though they were
expecting something more. As though at any
moment there might gush forth angry, harsh
words . . . Later one might repent of them, but
It would be too late ! . . . They might let love
fly loose, distort it like a face which smallpox has
disfigured. And there would be no more colour
in it, no more warming happiness . . .

“ Vasia 1 ” Vladimir said, breaking the oppres-
sive silence. “ To what purpose is such trouble ? ”

Who is guilty in this matter ? I swear to you
that I spared you — spared you^ to the utmost of
my power ...”

“ You need not have spared me, Volodia. You
ought to have believed that I was your friend . .

Vladimir seated himself beside Vasilissa again,
and took her hand.

“ Yes, Vasia, I know that you are my friend
. . . That is why things are so difficult for me.”
And, of old habit, he laid his head upon Vasilissa’s
shoulder. And Vasilissa stroked the well-known
head, and her pain became mingled with a sweet
joyousness . . . All the same, he was here,
with her, now 1 All the same, he loved her after
his own fashion 1 . . .

“ Volodia ! Perhaps it would be better if, not
she, but I, were to go away ? ” Vasilissa asked
cautiously.

“ Vasia 1 do not begin again. Do not torment
me. Instead of upholding me, you are jogging me
towards the false road ... I have expounded
to you my soul, as to a friend ... I have not a

220 Free Love

single secret more from you Yet you say
1 will go away.’*

“ For jour sake, Volodia . . If you love
her ”

“ Love her, Vasia I Lo\c is love, but do even
I know, Vasia, what Nina and I have in common ^
She IS not, never could be, a comrade and friend
such as you are I am just sorry for her,
troubled about her What would become

of her :f I were to cast her off? If we were
entirely to part ^ I have a sense of responsibility
towards her Do jou understand ? You

see, I took her as a virgin ’*

“ Well, Volodia, that is rubbish You merely
suppose the responsibility I She was not an
infant , she herself understood to what she was
going And who now pajs attention to that ? "
“ That IS the proletanan view But Nina is
different To her it is like a stone about her
neck ”

You see, then 1 That is why I say to jou
I will depart, and do jou marry her ! . ”

" Again, Vasia ? I have begged of you do
not torture me 1 Besides, now it is too late
To-night we decided everything Nma Kon-
stantmoma is to lca\e for Moscow on Thursday
And— so the end Let us mark the full stop *'
Wadimir spoke so quietlj, firmly that Vasilissa
almost believed him

** And do JOU, dear Vasia, be patient for a few
days more Do not disturb j ourself and me .

She will depart, and once more you and I will
live as of old And even better than as of old

Free Love

221

Yet another grief shall we have lived through
together ; still nearer to one another shall we
stand.”

Volodia embraced Vasilissa. He kissed Vasi-
lissa’s eyes.

“ I should like to lie with you to-night, Vasiuk !
Will you let me ? I am tired ; my head is
whirling, somehow.”

Vladimir lay down. He rested his head upon
Vasilissa’s shoulder. And the next moment he
was asleep.

But Vasilissa did not sleep.

If he loved her he would have caressed her !
If he loved her he would have divined Vasilissa’s
grief . . She looked at Volodia’s head. A
well-known head, but the thoughts in it were
alien, uninfeJiigibie. VoJodia’s eyelashes, ray-
like, were hiding his kindly glances, and not
turned in her direction . . . His warm lips,
the lips of Volodia, were accustomed to thrill
another woman with kisses — with languor, and
in another woman to kindle desire.

The serpent thrust its sharp little tongue into
Vasilissa’s heart. It bit, worried it . . . Vasi-
lissa threw off Volodia’s head from her shoulder
... A stranger he was ! . . .

“ Why tease your ‘ Volia-Sunny ’ ? ” Vladimir
whispered, half-asleep.

“ Volia-Sunny ” ? What pet name was that ?
Not one of Vasilissa’s . . . He had got con-
fused ! He was thinking of “ that woman ”
even in his slumbers. Vasilissa looked viciously
at her sleeping husband. PFas he her husband ?

222

Free Loze

Was he the old fnend-comrade ? Was he the
man whom Vasihssa had loved in the days when
he and she had contended for soviets ?

A stranger, quite a stranger
Vasihssa felt cold Lonely The serpent
enveloped her heart m a tight coil It sucked at
It. It worked its will upon Vasihssa ...

The Town Gardens Dusty, stale Hot,
exhausting summer was reigning Hea^en’s
moisture had not fallen in showers Ram was
absent Otherwise it would have washed the
trees clear of town dust, given the withered turf
to dnnk

Music

Few, though, of the public Children were
gambolling Red soldiers were sitting in groups,
or promenading near the music with “ ladies ”
On a bench in shade a pnest, in a cassock was
seated with elbows on knees, and meditating
Beside him a nurse girl was lookmg after a sm^l
child

Upon the same bench there seated themselves
Vasihssa and Mana Semenovna — ^unobtrusively,
but whence eveiything was visible

They were expecting to sec Nina Konstanti-
novna

“ It would be strange if we did not get a sight
of our * poppet ’ to-day Usually, when there’s

Free Love

223

music in the Gardens, there too there’s our
sudarushka. To flaunt her finery. Ladies come
here on purpose to observe what are the day’s
fashions. They learn them from Nina Konstanti-
novna. She always has the very smartest.”

Vasilissa listened distraughtly. She had a
curiosity .to see what Nina was like. But at the
same time she was feeling uncomfortable. It
seemed as though, see the woman, and her heart
would break with pain.

“ Is not that she ? Look, Maria Semenovna
— the one who has sat down upon a bench to the
right of the band . In pink.”

“ Well, what are you thinking of ? . . Nina
Konstantinovna such a one as that ! One can
distinguish her at once from others. A show
woman. A mannequin.”

They sat. They waited.

Still, still no Nina.

They began to make up their minds as to
whether to go home, and come again another day.
And then, just at that moment, Nina Konstanti-
novna made her appearance. She came from the
other end of the Gardens, and halted right beside
the band. She was talking to Saveliev and two
dandies. She seemed not to notice how the public
was looking at her.

So that was what she was like ! A white dress,
light, enveloped all her figure in soft folds. Under
the dress the breasts showed roundly sketched.
On her hands were long gloves of sand yellow,
and a hat of the same colour sat pulled forward
over her eyes . . . TheTace it was impossible for

Free Love

224

Vasihssa to make out. Only the lips were visible
— as bnght as though smeared with blood
“ What lips she has — ^bloody ! "

“ That IS from pamt,^’ Mana Semenovna
explained “ And you should sec her ejes, how
they're coated with grease . I’d like to take a
mop, and clear her face of the filth with a wash
You’d see then what she really was like ! Pom-
aded and pointed, 1 myself couJd become a beauty
for you ”

Nina Konstantinovna was leaning upon a
parasol of white lace, and playing with the point
of a white shoe She kept smiling, with faint
nods of the head. The two dandies also kept
smiling

Savelie. ■ ’ * •

he were " i I ■ ■ ■ r . ■ the

sand wit ■ ■ ■ . ■

“ Her hat makes it impossible to get a \racw of
her face," Vasilissa said vexedl)

" Suppose, then, we walk past them . . . Then
look your fiill at our ‘ poppet.’ Only, I should
advise )-ou also not to look 1 There arc few good
pomts about her When I was in the service of
Madame Gololobov, the General’s lady, I used to
see real gentleman and beauties Butwhatis she
Curiosity, none the less, was torturing Vasihssa
Learn she must why Volodia lo\ ed “ that woman ’’
Vasilissa and Mana Semenovna had just nsen,
just started towards Nina, when she shook hands
with the dandies, and threw at them on parting,
loudly enough for the words to reach Vasihssa *
" We shall meet, next, m Moscow ** Then she

Free Love

225

turned away. She walked towards the exit.
Saveliev behind her.

“ Shall we overtake them ? No, we had better
not, Vasilissa Dementievna 1 . . . Well, look at
her, the precious one . . . People know you, and
you wouldn’t escape gossip.”

Vasilissa slackened her steps, but never took
her eyes off Nina.

Tall. Straight. Walked with a movement of '
the shoulders. As she left the band at a distance
she sank her head very low. And Vasilissa
thought that Nina was weeping . . . Saveliev leant
towards Nina, and said something persuasively.
But Nina shook her head. “ No,” she was
saying. And she raised a hand in a yellow glove
to her face, as though to wipe away a tear . . .
Was she, then, in very truth weeping ? . . Had
she come to take leave of the music .? Of course
. . . Did it mean that she loved Volodia ? And did
not want merely to “ draw upon ” him ? Vasilissa
felt uneasy at heart. She had seen Nina Konstanti-
novna, but not gained relief. Not jealousy was
troubling her. Another, a new, feeling was
causing her torment ; there was stirring in her
a sort of compassion for “ that woman ”...
About what was “ that woman ” shedding tears ?
Why had she gone to the music } To bid fare-
well to her happiness ?

Yes, a new pain was worrying Vasilissa. And
she felt vexed with herself : that still one had
not got to the end of it 1 Here was she now
going to ache for “ that woman,” for the separ-
ator ! Again something new ! . . .

226 Free Love

Nina Konstantinovna departed to Moscow
And now this was the second week that there
had been neither she nor Saveliev in the town It
might have seemed that Vasihssa needed but to
live and enjoy herself The ** separator ** was
gone from her path Vladimir remained alone
with Vasihssa That meant, then, that Vasihssa
was the dearer, the more wanted, of the two
women ? It meant, then, that in very deed there
had been something merely temporary, passing ^
Vasihssa smiled Vasihssa laughed And she
coughed less She went regularly to the Partkom
And Vladimir too was busy He was reorganising
the business according to the Syndicalists’ plan
When that should be ended he was to go to
Moscow with Vasihssa, and thence they would
transfer Vladimir to his new ** region ” Vladimir
was pleased He entered wholly into his work.
Ever^hing seemed to be “ in a nice way ”

But of real joyousness, of the joyousness which
had formerly existed, there was none, altogether
none As though there could have been 1
Vladimir was not exactly unkind, but impatient,
and a sort of irritableness would rend him, he
would fly into tempers with Vasihssa

“ Why was she late home for dinner from the
Partkom ? She had kept the guests waiting —
one could not sit down to table without the
hostess I " Another time he fired up about his
collars they did not look clean Vasihssa fired
up in response Was that Vasiltssa’s business ?
He himself should deal with the matter Let him
ask Maria Semenovna about it Vasilissa was

Free Love

227

hot his washerwoman . . . They parted in anger.
And because of what ? Because of a trumpery
collar ! Once, too, Vasilissa returned home in
pouring rain. She had left her hat behind her
at the Partkom — to save it, she had bound a
kerchief over her head. "iHadimir saw this,
frowned, and nodded at Vasilissa as much as to
say : what on earth are you walking about in ?
Your shoes are down-at-heel, your skirt is muddy,
you have tied yourself up in a kerchief like a
regular village woman . . . What a frump ! . .
And again Vasilissa could not refrain from :

" Not all of us can flaunt about like manne-
quins ! Nor is it proper to be indebted to a
Saveliev ! ”

Vladimir looked at Vasilissa with angry eyes,
but said nothing. Yet Vasilissa had an idea that
he was longing to strike her. As it was, he
restrained himself.

Things were not right. Vasilissa and Wadimir
wanted to be friends ; but, let the one have the
least grudge against the other, and — temper
seethed up.

Vladimir was always dreaming of his new
“ region.” How he would arrange his house
there, how settle about the housekeeping . . .

This wearied Vasilissa. To W'hat purpose was
it to set up an establishment of one’s own ?
What was the pleasure of it } Would that there
was a “ Collective ” for everyone . . . Vladimir
did not agree. He reproached Vasilissa for
“ backsliding.”

For her part, Vasilissa related how in her

228 Fm Iji’Le

Marxist circle there had been a debate as to
whether only economics made history, or whether
* ideas ” also did that Vasihssa grew animated,
and wanted to share with Vladimir all that she
had heard But it bored him AH of it was
fiddle faddic Whereas, to increase the

lucrativeness of an undertaking, that indeed was
actual business I And again mey disputed
Whenever they were alone together they did
not know what to talk about Nor what to do
Sometimes thc> would summon Ivan Iranovitch
b) telephone In his presence things were freer
Vasihssa looked for letters from her guhemta.
But they did not come Neither from Grusba
nor from Stepan Alexemteh a single word.
Had something happened to them, one and all ^
Vasihssa did not like to confess it to herself,
but in the secrecy of her soul she was hoping to
be summoned back to work in the gubernia
To go ? Not to go ?

All the same, a letter did amve from the
gubernia A registered one From Stepan
Alexemteh Rather short, but practical it
proposed to Vasihssa that she should undertake
a group of textile factories, and establish the work
according to a new type ’’ as the Centre pre-
senbed Vasihssa should live there, outside the
town He begged a reply

Free Love

229

Vasilissa’s heart beat. She yearned for “ her
own people ”... Else, what sort of a life was
this ? In it one had neither work nor enjoy-
ment ! . . Only care : as to what might not happen
next. One went about as though bound. Vasi-
lissa remembered how her brother Kolika had had
a jackdaw. He had caught it in the forest, and,
so that it should not fly away, tied its wings with
threads. The jackdaw had walked about the
floor, gaped open its beak, looked at the windows
with its black, intelligent little eyes, and clapped
its wings. But the wings had been tied. It had
clapped, clapped, cawed once or twice for sorrow,
and then fallen again to strutting about the floor.
As though, as a matter of fact, it had never made
any preparations for flying away. So now Vasi-
lissa as well. Her wings were tied. There could
be no flying away ! . . And tied with what ? Oh,
if it had been with joy, if it had been with love !
But it was not so — they were tied with anxiety.
With fear as to whether something might not
again befall Vladimir. With gratitude that he had
remained with her, and removed the “ poppet ”
from the path . . . Such the threads. Though
slender,' they enveloped Vasilissa closely. It was
as though they concealed the very fact from
Vasilissa, so artful was their envelopment . . .

Liza once said : “ I do not recognise you,
Vasilissa. I told you that you would become a
‘ Directress.’ And so it has turned out.”

How to cast off the threads ? How to cast
off the artful envelopment ?

Vasilissa held Stepan Alexeivitch’s letter in

230 Free Loie

her handSj and did not put it down It was as
though the letter, like the talisman in the tales,
might discover to Vasihssa the road

‘ Vasihssa Dementievna, all our beer is
finished You had better tell Vladimir Ivan-
ovitch to see that thej send some more from the
brewery Else, guests might turn up for dinner,
and then it would be run, turn yourself about,
at least produce some from underground ”
And Mana Semenovna looked at Vasihssa
She was “ not approving of” her

“ Always you keep plapng tncks, Vasihssa
Dementievna But for what reason now,

may I ask ^ They have sent off the * fine lady,’
with God, to Moscow AHadimir Ivanovitch
always stays with you now — stirs not a foot to go
out as a guest Why, then, should }OU look
glum ? Men do not like that They apprcaate
a wife who is cheerful, so that there may be
laughter in the home, and some pleasure await
one after one’s cares and labours ”

Vasihssa listened to Mana Semenovna, and
smiled, and thought to herself “ Perhaps she
IS right I Perhaps I ought to shake myself,
and again become his * Vasia-Fury ’1 As I
used to be m ’18 Do your work, and then at
least have a laugh 1 ”

How would It be if now she were to go to
Volodia at the Management’s offices ^ Un-
expected!}, as “a guest” ? To tell him about
the letter And to saj, smiling, that a

refusal should be dispatched ^ For she could not
part from Volodia ! Let him see how she loved

Free Love 231 .

him, the dear, the desired, one ! Let him be
delighted . . . Let him embrace her in trans-
ports, kiss Vasilissa’s brown eyes . . . Call her
his “Vasia-Fury” ...

Vasilissa got out the white blouse, and tied
on to it a blue necklet. Then she put on her hat
before the mirror, and straightened her curls . . .
To-day she wanted to please Volodia. For she was
bringing him a “ gift ” ! And what a “ gift ” !
Vasilissa’s refusal of Stepan Alexeivitch’s in-
vitation to go and work in the gubernia. She was
going to accompany Volodia to the new “region”
— she would take up work there instead.

She reached the Management’s offices. Straight
into the cabinet, to see the “ Director.” But the
cabinet was empty. The Director was at a
session. It was coming to an end, though ; he
would be there in ten minutes.

Vasilissa waited — ^looked at the Muscovite
papers. She smiled to herself. For she was going
to “ repay ” Volodia for all . . . For his having
given up “ that woman,” for his having valued
Vasilissa above everyone else . . .

They brought in a mail. They placed it on the
Director’s table. Were there no letters also for
'V asilissa ? She turned over the business en-
velopes. And suddenly her heart went knock !
knock ! and stopped for a moment. An oblong,
coloured envelope . . . The handwriting fine,
elegant ... No otherwise than from “'her”

. . . From Nina Konstantinovna.

So it was not ended yet } So, as before, there
was deception ?

^32 Love

It seemed to Vasiiissa as though she were fljing
somewhere for a long, long time Never

an end

She must Have staggered, for she brushed
against an inkstand on the table, upset it

She looked at the oblong, coloured envelope,
and felt as though in the envelope her fate were
lying concealed

Quick 1 The envelope had been thrust
into Vasili ssa’s pocket Now the truth would not
remain hidden from her Now there would be
an end of deception

Vladimir entered with the Managers
Ah, Vasia, and you here ? Business is it, or
have you just come to look me up ? ”

* There is no more beer left An order
must be given to the brewery ”

’ Oh, what a woman 1 lou are becoming a
regular chatelaine ! There is no recog-
nising the * Vasia Fury,* ” laughed Volodia, as
though pleased

Laugh on, laugh on I I am going to tear
in pieces the foul mesh in which you have en-
wrapped me I am going to disclose your
deceit to the bottom

“ Well, Vasia ? So you have paid your visit
now ^ You are going again, I suppose ^ ”

Vasilissa nodded without speaking All withm
her was quivering, boilmg, to the point of burst-
ing forth

Vasilissa had not the patience to reach home
before reading the letter She turned aside into
the Town Gardens She seated herself upon a

Free Love

233

bench. She tore open the coloured envelope.
She could wait no longer.

i ' “ My Sunny Volia ! My master, my beloved
torturer ! . . From you again not a word. The
third day — not a line. Surely you have not for-
gotten, fallen but of love with, your ‘ Ninka the
Capricious ’ ? — ^Your ‘ Egyptian Monkey ’ ? I
do not believe it ! . . Yet, all the same, I am
afraid. You are with her, and I am all alone !
Your manageress knows how to influence you ;
she will persuade you that our love is ‘ a sin
against Communism,’ that it is necessary, accord-
ing to your, the Communist way, to ‘ be frugal,’
to deny oneself everything that gives joy, to live
only for the ‘ Saturdayites ’ . . . I am afraid of
her, I know her power over you . . . My God,
my God I yet, all the same, I am not taking you
from her ! I am asking so little. She is your
generally recognised wife. You are with her
always, always . . . And here am I begging
of you only a few hours for our love ? Only pity
on your part for me. But for you, I have no one,
no one in the world 1 ... At nights I awake
with the dread ; but will he suddenly lose his
affection for me, will he cast me off ? What then
will become of me ? I fear to think. You
yourself know that Nikanov Platonovitch watches
me like a spider . . . Even though he plays at
being my ‘ little Papa,’ you and I are aware what
really he is looking for ! . . O, how he would
like you to cast me off ! . , . That I should be
left alone, quite alone, defenceless, helpless . . .
That is when his festival would arrive ! . .

234 hove

There are days when I hate him, when I am ready
to go upon the streets rather than feel that 1 am
‘ beholden ’ to him . . . Voha, Volia I My
beloved, incredibly dear one, surely this will end
some day ^ Surely some day you "will rescue your
Ninka ^ Are not you sorry for her ? Will you
not protect her ^ . I am weeping, Voha . . .

Have you no regret for * the Monkey ’ ? Are
not you thinking of her ? You are cruel I You
are naughty • . . You are, at this very mo-

ment, caressing another . . . You are making
love to her ! I know that you are making love
to her ! And this hurts me 1 hurts I hurts 1 I
want you . . Ardent, unsated . . . Are not
you longing for my lips ^ , For our stifling

embraces ? . . , My satiny arms yearn to twine
themselves about you . . My breasts — ‘ cups

of snow ’ — are wearying for a caress from you
. . , Voha 1 I cannot endure more 1 I cannot
live in separation Why did you send me away to
Moscow ? For what reason ? But let this be
for the last time When you pass to the new
‘ region,’ find me a little house outside the town
So that no one may know that I am there . . .
A * secret little house,’ whither you can come and
see me when darkness is falling , . . And where
I can teach you that love such as ours is better,
more important, than all, all else in the world !
• . When are you coming to Moscow ? I
suppose she will come with you even to Moscow ^
Ah, if we could spend but one week together !
Have but one week as * ours ’ . . . Nikanov
Platonovitch says that in the new ‘ region ’ they

Free Love 23^

are going to assign you a charming detached
residence ... A dining-room in the Gothic
style. But there is not included a dining-room
lamp. I have seen here a wonderful chandelier —
rather dear, but, on the other hand, veritably
artistic. It will please you, I know. Now, I have
chattered enough. Such a big letter that you will
have nowhere where you can ‘ hide ’ it ! . . .
Here am I joking, but my desire is to weep . . .
Surely you can feel in what pain I am ? . .
Why, why does life not give us happiness . .
Do not be afraid, O master of mine ; I am not
going to murmur any more. After all that I have
suffered I am now ‘ wise.’ Do as may be best for
you. I shall reconcile myself to everything. Only
one thing do not take away — your ardent caress-
ingriess, your love-pity for your poor sorrowing,
capricious Ninka. Moscow, Ostozhenka 18,
Flat 7, and not 1 7 as you wrote last time, so that
the letter very nearly went amiss. Your, from
little feet to warm little lips, and only your,
‘ sweet little girl ’ Nina.”

In the margin the postscript : “ Think what
joy : I have come' across, in Moscow, the poudre
c6te d’or.”

Vasilissa took long over the reading of Nina’s
letter. She read it attentively. Word by word.
Not merely with the eyes, but also with the heart.

She finished the task.

She laid the letter upon her knees. She gazed
at the dr)^, dusty grass as in it a bee buzzed,
seemed to grow angr)', burrowed actively amongst
the blades, and irritably shot away again into the

236 Love

herbage In the spring, too, when the lilac

had been flowenng, there had been bees
They had been other bees Joyous bees Where
as this one was wrathful, as though disappointed
with summer

It seemed to Vasilissa as though she were
thinking of the bee, not of the letter In her heart
there was a dullness Yet something altogether
not painful Rather, a complete indifference
Nevertheless the serpent already was working
It was glad to make the effort ! “ Satiny arms ”
Warm little lips ” It lashed her
heart with its accursed tail as with a whip
Sorely, Sorely ! Cease, snake rascal, to torture
that heart Is there in that heart a corner which
is not filled with thy venom ^

Slowly, neatly Vasdissa folded the letter She
thrust It back into the envelope
She rose

She walked towards the exit Past the band-
stand To-day all was quiet here, unfrequented
There was no music Now VasiUssa knew whom
Vladimir loved Now Vasilissa knew that the
other woman was “ his own ” — not Wsihssa . .

Vasilissa issued into the clattering street from
the wicket gate of the dusty Town Gardens ,
and It seemed to her that there remained behind
her in the Gardens a tomb

Vasilissa was going home from a funeral
From the funeral of a dead happiness

Free Love

m

Vladimir returned home earlier than usual.
Full of smiles, cheerful. He brought joTfuI news ;
the long-expected decree from the Centre had
arrived, his appointment to the new “ region.”
It was necessary to leave, on a certain date, for
Moscow.

“ For Moscow ? Well, well ! . . . Go, then.
I too shall be going : only, not to Moscow. To
my own gubernia.”

Vasilissa spoke as though calmly ; yet in her
all was raging, all boiling. In her pockej; there
was the oblong, coloured envelope — Nina Kon-
stantinovna’s letter.

Vladimir did not remark Vasilissa’s convulsed
face ; he did not see the vicious sparks which were
scattering themselves from her brown eyes. To
him it was unknown why she should be sorting
out her things in the bedroom, and packing
them.

“ So you have settled to visit yom: people.
Excellent. We shall meet again in Moscow. Or
will you come straight to the ‘ region.’ ? ”

Hope had glowed in Vasilissa’s heart — a last
hope : that he would protest. That he would not
let her go. Now even that hope had ceased to
be . . .

“ I am not coming to you in the ‘ region.’
They are summoning me to work. I shall remain
there. Not for a time only. Altogether. I have
panted enough in this cage. I have played ‘ the

238 Free Love

Directress ' enough Take for a wife one

of those who value such a life ”

Vasilissa, as it were, choked She so heaped
word upon word, hurried, kept interrupting
herself She was going to allow herself to be
deceived no longer, she said, but was glad that
the end of love was come And she was tired of
having no work, of being amongst Syndicalist
bourgeois , only for Vladimir’s sake had she
endured it, and it hurt her to find that to Vladimir
she was no longer necessary There was no
longer comradeship, no longer affection, between
them She was wife in the house merely to serve
as hostess, to act as a cover I live, she said, m
wedlock with a Communist, but another woman
IS the wife for delectation, for love m “ a secret
little house ’ Cleverly thought of it was I
Unfortunately, Vladimir and Nina had not taken
one thing into account whether she, Vasilissa,
would agree to such a repellent life ?

Vasilissa s eyes were angry, green As she
spoke she panted

Vladimir wagged his head irritably at Vasilissa

Vasia I Is this you ? I do not recognise
you If 1 conceal anything from you, it is only
to spare you *

Thanks 1 Your compassion is not neces
sary to me I am strong Do you suppose that
only your love can set a candle in the window ^
F or me your love — well, tiere is where it sits I
It gives me only pangs I would rather leave you
as soon as possible, tear myself away I shall
not want to know what you are doing Fondle,

Free Love

239

make love to, whom you will . . . Lie, deceit.
Become a General Director . . Betray Com-
munism ; it is all one now . • •

But her heart was torn with anguish.

“ Vasia, Vasia ! But our friendship But
your promise — to understand

^ Our friendship ? Where is it ? Where is
that friendship ? I do not beliei^ you, Vkdimir
You have killed my belief . . . You should h
come to me, and said : ‘ Vasia, a misfortune, such
a calamity, has occurred ; I have fallen in love
with another woman.’ Do you suppose th ^
should have withheld you? Regoached }OU .
Gone against your happiness? Have you to
gotten, Vladimir, that I have not merely been a
wife to you, but also a friend, a comrade That
is wherein my affront lies 1^^ That is what I will

never, never forgive you ...”

And the tears trickled over her wan cheeks.
She wiped them away with a sleeve, and turnea

aside from Vladimir. .y.

“ I had faith in you as in a comrade . . . lou
have trampled it to pieces, Vladimir, an^
pity . . . And, once the one has no f^ith m th
other, how can they live together ... vi J
the end has come to our life, to happiness .^. .

Vasilissa’s heart was grieving. cHe

shoulders were shaking. Again she turne

from Vladimir. ...

She sat down upon the bed. Vasihssa
rumpled the silken quilt. And her eyes V
of woe and tears. Vladimir sat down esi e j
and took her by the shoulders.

240 Z.5W

** You say that you are a stranger to me^ that
you do not love me No, Vasia If you had lost
your love, would jou have been so cast down ^
And I ^ Have I lost my love ? Understand me,
then I do love Nina, but altogether in another
way Without you, Vasia, there is no road for
me Whatever I have done, I have always
thought to myself * But what would she advise ^
Be It as Vasia may say 1 ’ You have led me like a
star You are necessary to me , there you have
It 1 ’

“ You always think only of yourself,*’ Vasihssa
wailed, ‘ and forget me I hm stifled, Vladimir,
with this life It is no trouble to me that you
have set up a mistress The more painful thing
IS that we have ceased to be comrades ”

* Do you think that I do not see that 1 But
where is the cause ^ I myself do not understand
It Apart It is wearisome for us , together it is
constrained You say that formerly it was not
so ? Yet, formerly, did we live so much together ?
We had no family life Always at work, always
on the Wing Suppose, Vasia, it were again
thus on the wing ! Should y ou wish it ^ Each
of us self by self But if we should be bored like
that — we could come together again Yes ?
Should you like it to be so ? And Vasia would
then become ‘ Vasia Fury again Dear, inti
mate And there would be no deceit We
need not tear things up, Vasia* We need not
part That would be painful Pity me,

Vasia *'

Vladimir, as usual, hid hts head upon Vasilissa’s

Free Love

241

knees, thrust his face into Vasilissa’s vrarm lap . . .

A quietness. Both kept silence.

In a warm wave a forgotten thrill ran from the
one to the other. The little spark of passion
which had become ash-strewn W'ith wrongs and
distrust shot forth its little igniting tongues.

“ Vasia 1 Beloved one ! ”

Vladimir’s arms masterjfiilly embraced Vasilissa,
drew her to him on his knees. With warm lips
he exhausted those of Vasilissa, with caresses he
fired Vasilissa’s body.

Vasilissa did not oppose him. Vasilissa yielded
to the sweet, forgotten thrill !

Be it so ! Now Wadimir was loving Vasilissa
as of old. Without shame. Now Volodia was
Vasilissa’s. Now Nina was forgotten. Now
Volodia was betraying Nina not only with his
body ; he was betraying her also with his heart,
with his soul.

Vasilissa felt unwontedly — malicious. Pained
and joyful . . . Let him “ betray.”

There ensued strange days. Indeterminate
days. The little spark of passion, glowing under
the ashes of WTongs, of estrangement, as in a
burnt-out bonfire which a gust of autumn wind
keeps fanning, flared briskly, moved from spot to
spot. It licked the scorched woimds, sought in
the heart spots not yet touched with flame.

Rj.

242 Free Love

Tender did Vladimir become-

Submissively caressing did Vasilissa become.

As if anew did they ** make lo^e.” The one
could not exist without the other. By night they
would lie closely pressed together, as though they
feared to lose one another. Vladimir would kiss
Vasilissa’s brown eyes. Vasilissa would press to
her heart Vladimir’s familiar head . . . Thus had
they never before loved ; thus had they never
before caressed . . . With longing, with bitter joy.
It was not exactly that they had found one another
again , it was not exactly that they were taking
leave of love . . . They were taking leave of a
happiness gone, irrecoverable.

Vasilissa would smile, jest And then it would
seem to her : that the next moment she would
burst with tears. Wadwnir would caress Vasilissa,
and look into her brown eyes, but in Vladimir’s
eyes Vasilissa would read unforgettable sorrow.
There did not play m them the subtle spark of
happiness ; they did not reflect Vasilissa’s love .. .
It was as though they were saying to Vasilissa
without words, “ Farewell.”

Not to see Volodia’s eyes, not to read in them
tears, but to stay the grief of the inevitable, Vasi-
lissa would twine her thin arms around Volodia’s
neck . . Seek his lips . . . And Volodia would
press Vasilissa to his heart, fondle her, fire her
with caresses, seek Vasilissa's body . . . Insatiably.
To slumberous weariness . . .

Strange days Indeterminate. Stifling. Dun.
No happiness in them In them none of the light-
Winged jOyousness which is bom of love . . .

Free Love

243

They came to an agreement. Vasilissa should.

“ for the time being,” go to her gubernia foi
work. When Vladimir had got settled in the
" region ” they would write to one another. They
would see one another sometimes. "W^here .
They did not specify. And about a divorce— not
a word. Seemingly all was simple, intelligible
without that. Clear. “ The whole truth,” as it
were. Of one thing Vasilissa did not speak, of
the fact that she had discovered Nina’s letter. She
had hidden it. She was keeping the letter. As
though it still might be useful for something.
But she insisted : that you send, send a telegram
to Nina in Moscow to say that you are going there
alone. Why did Vasilissa do this ? It was painful
but, for some reason, “ necessary.” Vladimir
stood on the alert — ^looked suspiciously at Vasi-
lissa. As though he feared something. He sent
the telegram. And became more caressing than
ever vntk Vasilissa. More ardent than ever . . .

Be it so 1 This too was necessary. As though
they were drinking the last drops of happiness
which remained at the bottom of the common cup
of life . . . And, in the drops, the headiness of
passion, and the sweet gall of farewell . . .

Vasilissa was cheerful. Brisk. On the move.
Volodia had not seen her so for long past.

^ “ It is because I have thrown off a skin which
did noL fit me . . . W hat sort of a ' Directress,’ I ? . .
For you— another wife is wanted. For what am I

244

for a mfe ? In the presence of a * Nep ' I ^ no
good at all.'* VasUissa spoke jeadngly, angrily.

" I do not know who you ought to be. I liiow
merely that once more you arc ' Vasia-Fury ’ . . .
And I will not give up my * Fury,’ will not let
her go, even if five Paitkoms summon you . . .
For a time— yes. But altogether, not for any-
thing . .

Vasilissa laughed. I.et it be thus. They
would meet one another ** on the wing,” as free
comrades. Kot as husband and wife. That
would do 1

Vladimir agreed. It would be better than ever
so , , . But without Vasihssa’s clever, curly little
head he could not live.

" I have few friends in the world, Vasia . . .
Especially now. Again all of them hare swum
away. Each one fimks only of himself . . .
Whereas we, Vasia, are tned fnends. Is not that
so?"

They talked as though there was none of the
old wall. It had been overthrown.

Silent, not stimng, also, was the serpent in
Vasilissa ’s heart. It seemed to Vasilissa that all
jealousy had passed away. And suddenly, un-
expectedly, how It bit with sharp fang 1 . . .
Vladimir now was at a loose and used of
himself to talk of Nina. Evidently he often
thought of her. So “ well-taught " she was, and
so easily could she chat in French with a French-
man, and tn German with a German . . . She had
been educated in an msUtute.

“ If she IS so * well-taught,' why cannot she

Free Love

245

find work ? Or is she too accustomed to living on
free rations ? Parasitism is in her very blood . . .
That, of course, is suitable enough amongst
mistresses . .

Vasilissa knew that she ought not to speak so,
but she could not repress herself. The serpent
was biting, and she wanted to prick Volodia for
this. Let him too smart.

And Volodia frowned. He looked at Vasilissa
with reproach.

■ “ Why say that, Vasia ? It is not right. That
is not my ‘ Vasia-Fury ’ speaking ... It is an
alien ‘ Vasilissa Dementievna.’ ”

Vasilissa felt uncomfortable and ashamed.
But she would not give in. More and more she
tried to prick Volodia. Until Volodia lost his
temper. Until Vasilissa recollected herself.

“ Do not be angry, dear . . . Pardon me, cruel
one. For I love you. If I did not love you I
should not torment you . . .”

In stifling kisses, in intoxication of the body,
did they seek one another. So as not to think.
So as not to suffer. So as to forget, so as to cheat
the inevitable truth ...

Vasilissa took leave of the Partkom. Then she
set about the dismantling of the house. To every-
thing now did she see. To boxes, trunks. To
wrappings, mats, straw . . . Vasilissa conferred
with Maria Semenovna, and took her advice :
how to lay this so that it should not get broken
or spoilt ; how to ensure that everything should
pass intact to the Director’s new dwelling.

“ And why do you try so much at this ? ” the

246 Love

dissatisfied Mana Semenovna asked ** If )on
have decided to return to your oivn gubernia, why
fuss ? Remember my words jou once across
the threshold, and the sudarushka — ^hop, skip, and
jump ! — into your place So it is for her that
joure doing jour best, and squandering your
strength ’

" Ah, well I So be it It is not as though a
wife were helping him As a wife I should not
be here As a wife I should condemn Vladimir
for having made himself into a * bourgeois * But
what does the wife need to care now ^ He
to himself, she — to herself Each of us is
to go our own way We have been comrades
Why should I not help him ? lam not doing it
for a husband, or because he demands, and
expects, and commands that it be done
Voluntarily I am doing it As for a comrade, for
a friend And I have no grudge against
him If he chooses to trail a lot oilumber behind
him, and to cram the people s transport with
boxes and crockery and trunks with silken
coverings, it is his own affair I With such
stuff, of course, I would not travel Nor am I
going to enter life hand in hand with him again
But as for helping him in packing, whj should I
not help ? ’

Volodia could not sufficiently express his
surprise Whence had she become such a house-
keeper ? He boasted of it to Ivan Ivanovitcb, to
the Managers And he asked Vasilissa who, m
the new ‘ region ” would set the house m order
if Vasilissa did not at once come to him there ?

Free Love

247

“ Who ? Then what good is Nina Konstan-
tinovna ? Or will she decline to dirty her little
white hands ? The baryshnia — sudarushnia . . .
Ahj it was given her always to have things pre-
pared for her, served on salvers ... At other
people’s expense, and on other people’s fare . . .”

She pricked Vladimir thus, and then felt
vexed. Why ?

Wadimir looked at Vasilissa, reproached her
with his eyes. As though he had been asking ;
For what reason, Vasia ?

“ My dear, desired one ! I am cruel, cruel.
I myself know it. It is all through love ! Do
not be angry, dear one. Why, I was only joking.”

And she hid her face on Vladimir’s breast,
choked away the tears which welled to her throat.
Vasilissa loved Volodia, come what might ! She
loved, suffered, and — ^feared to lose. Better not
to be alive . . .

“ My poor little heart . . . My kind little
Vasiuk ... I know you. Hence I love you.
Hence I cannot wrest my heart from you . . .
There is no other such Vasia in the world. I
shall never have such another as you.”

And once more the stiflingly pungent intoxica-
tion whirled them about ; once more in caresses
they sought oblivion of their pain.

“ You must leave a little place in your heart
for your mutinous ‘ Anarchist.’ ”

“ You will remember, in your happiness, your
‘ Vasia-Fury ’ ? . . ”

Strange days. Indeterminate. Stifling.

Dim . . .

Z^o Free Ijsve

know how to sit still She plied and plied her for
news In astonishment she asked why Yasihssa
had not grown fat on her husband’s substance
How worn she was, now that she had come back
She looked to have grown thinner Vasilissa was
reticent Vasilissa had thought that when she
saw (Trusha she would embrace her friend, and
weep out to her the tale of her grief But, now
that she saw Grusha, reticence seized upon her
It was not possible to find words How could
one share such distress with someone else ?

People m the building heard that Vasilissa had
arrived The older-established tenants rejoiced
The newer ones became filled with curiosity
What was she like ^ A member of the Domkom^
frowned — again, if you please, she would poke
her nose into the management ? The ;^ounger
folk, friends of Vasilissa’s from the juvenile club,
were the first to come running into Grusha’s room

As of old, thej at once applied themselves to
Vasilissa with a complaint under the " N E J
the juvenile club had been closed The authorities
declared that it could not be redeemed ’ The
premises, they said, were wanted for something
else Where now, therefore, were the scholars to
do their lessons ^ Their collections had all been
removed, their library distributed into other
hands, or else sold

Vasihssa listened How was this possible ^
And at once she boiled up she would not leave
the matter where it was This very day to the

‘House Committee

‘That IS to saj repuTctased from ttc State

Free Love 2.51

Partkom, to the Narobraz,' to the Zhilotdiel.
The N.E.P. might be the N.E.P., but what the
workers themselves had organised with labour,
and with such labour, that do not you dare to
touch . . . •

“ I will go and fight ... I will not let them
do this. Do not be uneasy, children ; I will
back up your demands. Even if I have to go to
Moscow because of them.”

The young people, as of old, laughed. They
trusted Vasilissa. She would stand up for them.
She would go straight away, and “ fight ”...
In the bulling they called her “ the Warrior.”
Hear, hear ! The young people applauded
Yasilissa.

After them the older tenants arrived to ex-
change greetings. They could scarcely say
“ How do ? ” before each of them was hastening
to make Vasilissa a participant in cares, in woe.
Each had his, or her, own. Vasilissa listened.
According to her custom, she investigated. She
gave advice. She consoled.

Quite a crowd accumulated in the garret —
a fly could not have found room to hover.

“ But, comrades,” Grusha implored, “ you
ought to have waited rather than not even give
her time for a meal after the journey . . . The
poor creature is tired, by heavens I Think of
Ae nights that she has been travelling . . .
Yet here you come plaguing her with every sort
of fiddle-faddle of yours.”

No, Grusha ; do not hinder them ... I
'Department of Popular Education.

252 J'ree Ijne

am not at all tifed What tras It you were begin-
ning to say to me, Timofei Timofeivitch ? ics,
about the ‘ tithe ’ that they have imposed upon
you . . How IS that ? You arc not a master*
not an exploiter, not a Director . . . , ”

As she said ** Director ” she remembered
Volodia She smoothed away the pain, and
immersed herself in other people’s cares - * •
No time for that

Gradually her old acquaintances dispersed
Vasilissa got herself ready for the Parthom. At
once to put matters through. And she forgot
her weariness . .

She buttoned her jacket She listened to
Grusha’s news Such a man had married. Such
another one had left the Party . . . Such n
woraan had been, elected te a Sowet And aod-
denly the voice of Madame Fcdoscicv, Along
all the corridor there could be heard :

” Where is she, our treasure ^ Our precious
champion Our little dove, Vasilissa Demen-
tievna , . ”

And straight upon Vasihssa’s neck. She
embraced, she beslavered And she became
suffused with bitter tears, and wetted Vasilts^a’s
face all o\er,

'* I have so been looking for you, my own. I
have so missed you , . . Only have I the light
that is m yoif, Vasilissa Dementievna, I have kept
thinking that, once let her, our defender, come,
and she will deade the matter right away. He
will not dare, the wretch, to insult his lawful
in her presence . He will be ashamed tn

Free Love

253

cause a scandal all over the building with his
slut . . . 'She will pity me for having to get
along alone with young children . . . She will
bring him to judgment. He will have at least to
obey the Party. On you alone, our treasure, rests
all my hope.”

Vasilissa was accustomed to divining other
people’s woe from two words. But here she stood
nonplussed : about what was Madame Fedo-
seiev lamenting ? Against whom was she pre-
senting a complaint ? Vasilissa could see that
Madame was quite changed, not to be recognised.
She had been a woman young-looking, strong,
full-bosomed. And she had become yellow and
thin . ,. . She had aged.

What could her misfortune be ?

Fedoseiev had started a love affair with one
Dora, an “ unbaptised Jewess.” No longer
would he have anything to do with his wife. He
was degrading her before the whole neighbour-
hood. He was not ashamed before people. He
had abandoned his own children. He was making
off with everything for his darling. Here,
Sudarushka, take this ! His family might die in
a ditch. Only do not drive away me, your
pockmarked one . . .

“ And what has Dora, the fool, perceived in
him } ” Madame hissed. “ As though he had
been a man really ! ... As it is, phew ! A
dirty-faced snotter . . . Alone, I bore with him
for eight years . . . kissed his poxy jowl for
the children’s sake ... I thought to myself
that, however ugly you be, Vasilievitch, fate has

2^4

tied ns, and the Church vredded us, and I must
put up with jou Aye, he used to seem so
horrible uhen he came crawling up to me with
his caresses I But I stood them 1 never looked
at other men I thought to mjself I’ll r^ay
him with gratitude , and I gave him, the foul
snotter, m) j outh And here you sec what has
happened Now that my looks are gone, he goes
bowling about after a wench He’s tied himself
up to a Jewess For a scandal to all the neigh
bourhood "

Madame Fcdoscicv wept, flung herself about
Vasihssa listened And it was as though a dark
wave came rolling to her heart It was as though
in Madame Fcdoscicv she beheld her own grief
She recognised her own wrong A hardness
seized her All her briskness departed some-
where Now she had no inclination to go to the
Partkom Merely to thrust herself into a pillow
— not to sec the l^ht

And Madame Fcdoscicv still wept She kissed
Vasilissa’s shoulders She implored Vasilissa to
teach her husband ** sense,” to stand up for the
young children To threaten him with the Party
court

Comrades escorted Vasilissa home from the
Partkom They could not talk enough And
Vasilissa was so cheerful Bnsk again As soon
as she had reached the Partkom she had forgotten

Free Love

255

about everything in the world. It was as though
she were living for nothing else. It was as though,
except for the Party, Vasilissa had no cares. She
agitated herself, disputed. Insisted. Enquired,
“ informed herself.” Interesting it was. Full of
joy. Her head worked, but her soul, as it were,
soared on wings . . .

She ran up to the garret, never noticed the
staircase. And only then realised that she was
tired.

Whilst Grusha was seeing to supper Vasilissa
lay down upon the bed, and so fell asleep.
Soundly.

Grusha looked at her friend. To arouse — not
to arouse. She pitied her. Vasilissa had worn
herself out. Let her sleep her fill.

She undressed Vasilissa like a child, took off
her shoes. Covered her with a counterpane.
Hung the lamp about with a kerchief. Herself
sat down to work — to throw stitches.

Knock — knock !

Whom was the devil bringing now Grusha
was .angry. No rest.

She opened.

In the doorway Fedoseiev — ^the husband.

“ What do you want ? ”

“ To see Vasilissa Dementievna ... Is she at
home ? ”

“ Why do all of you keep coming ? Are you
crazy ? A person comes off a journey, is dead
beat for want of sleep, and folk turn up like
starving dogs after a bone. Vasilissa Dementievna
is in bed.”

2^6 Fm Love

Grushaand Fcdosciev exchanged rccnmmatlon,
Fcdoseiev insisted, Grusha would not admit him

They agreed upon the morrow.

Grusha slammed the door in Fedoseiev*s face.
The dirty snotter 1 A legal wife, three children,
Dora walking about with a stomach. Fine goings
on I

Grusha did not approve of Fedoseiev. She
condemned also Dora- Why had she taken up
with a marned man ? Were there so few single
ones ^ Grusha, as regards morals — ^was strict.
And she looked to herself as well. Still had
she not forgotten her “ betrothed,”

Vasihssa awoke. Feeling peaceful. Hushed
all over. And autumned sunshine was dancing
through the window, and gilding the sewing-
machine. Grusha was heating an iron on the
stove before “ fashioning ” a gown.

“ For whom is that gown ? ”

“ For a lady of the Ispolkom. * For her

name-day ”

” Then still they celebrate name-days ? ”

” I should just think so 1 You should see
them — better even than under the old gentry.
A whole tableful of snacks alone. Wine.
Vodka...”

Grusha’s flat-iron hissed. There was no time
*■ Eiecuttve Conmuttec

Free Love

257

for more talk. . Vasilissa snuggled down into the
well-known bed. A hard bed. Narrow. She
had slept in it with Volodia. How had they
found room ? Now, even when widened, it was
cramped, and the one person disturbed the other.

That was then, and this was now.

Gradually a sense of depression stole to Vasi-
lissa’s heart, and broke her rest. Yet at heart
she still continued calm. Reconciled. As though
after a storm in a garden.

Surely there would be an end to worries ?

Grusha remembered the agreement with Fedo-
seiev. She reported it to Vasilissa.

“ Well, let him come in.” Yet she felt an
unwillingness to have anything to do with the
Fedoseievs. It, somehow, offended her : why
was it that the Fedoseievs, those mischief-makers,
had the same trouble as had occurred in her own
case ?

She asked about Dora ; what she was like.

“ You don’t remember her ? ” Grusha re-
turned in surprise. “ Dark, good-looking.
Danced with a tambourine at the Komsomol
festival.”

Then Vasilissa did • remember Dora. She
praised her. The girl had worked on the Kult-
kommissia, * amongst the leather hands. Clever,
no matter that she was young. Sang well. To
think of Fedoseiev trailing about with her !

Grusha did not agree with Vasilissa. She
condemned Dora. It was necessary to observe the
law. If the Communists should give countenance

* Higher Education Commission.

Sl

2j;8 Trte Lozs

to such beJia\nour of husbands, all husbands of
wh cs with ^ oung children would set up wenches
for themselves. It was said that already a case
against Dora was being got up in the Partj'.

'* A case is being got up ? Then to a certainty
It IS Madame Fedoscicv who has built it up. A
homd woman she is.*' Vasilissa defended
Dora “ There is no law to compel a man to lue
with an unloved wife . . . Would you by force
has e him embrace Madame Fedoscicv ? And
what if the wife has grown cold ? Or if the wife
IS a bad woman, an intnguer ? *’

Vasilissa grew excited. She felt rent with
anger against Madame. But why ? She herself
did not know. She disputed about the Fedoseievs,
but all the while nas thinking of Vladimir. She
stood up for Dora, but all the while was seeing a
white lace parasol and Nina’s red lips . . .

Grusha was surprised that VasiUssa should take
the Fedoscie^'s under her protection.

“ They might be blood relations of yours I
You yourself cned out upon them to me. As to
how many unpleasantnesses jou bad had because
of them. It IS ) our own affair, but I should adiise
you not to get mixed up in that trouble. Let
cogs fight their own . , . Let them settle their
own business ..."

But ^^asilissa proved stubborn If a case
should be got up against Dora, Vasilissa would
defend her. Pray, did the legal wife, Fedoseiev's,
think that, as such, she had all the rights on her
side ? No. She was mistaken. Other rights too
existed Rights not registered with human laws.

Free Love

2S9

Rights prompted by the heart; And no human
being could cut across those rights, or held
authority over them. Come what might, the heart
demanded its own.

Grusha squinted along the Ispolkom lady’s
dress, and then glanced at Vasilissa. Attentively.
As though she were reading her friend’s soul.

Vasilissa frowned. What was Grusha staring
for ? Was she, Vasilissa, not correct ? Were
there any laws over the heart ?

“ As though one could say 1 The heart is the
most important thing of all. What is a human
being without one Just now, when I was look-
ing at you, I could see : that clearly your own
heart has become sore . . . There is a great sense
of wrong in you, Vasilissa. Wherefore you stand
up for f^edoseiev. It is of your husband, I dare
swear, that you are thinking ; you are wanting to
whitewash him to yourself . . . Just that.”

Vasilissa said nothing ; she lowered her head.

Grusha asked no further questions. She took
the dress off the ironing board, shook it out,
cleared it of threads. It was ready.

“ Have you finished ? ” Vasilissa enquired
whilst herself thinking of something else.

It was ready.

“ Then, Grusha, I will go to the Partkom. Do
you keep Fedoseiev here.”

“ Very well.”

There ensued for Vasilissa a strenuous tune
She was to prepare to depart to the Caucasus
She conferred with Stepan Alexemtch, studied
her instructions, spent evenings at sessions of
responsible workers Thus the hours flew bp
Vasihssa had no time to meditate She had no
time to listen to her heart

And now another care had matenahsed The
Fedoseiev couple and Dora, as an addition They
had presented themselves with their trouble, and
would not let Vasihssa pass

Fedoseiev came to see Vasihssa, and made full
confession to Vasihssa as “ upon his soul *’

He had become acquainted with Dora Abram-
ovna through the Kultkommissia He had sung
in a choir His bass had much pleased Dora
Abramovna She had directed him to teachers
of singing She herself was a ** musician ” She
had introduced him to the Kultkommissia From
that the rest had followed And his spouse had
sniffed It out So trouble had occurred

Fedoseiev tyas offended with his wife She was
making mischief — inclining the comrades against
Dora Abramovna She was spreading abroad
complaints that Dora Abramovna was ** draining
her, Madame Fedoseicv’s, family, and living on
Fedoseiev’s means But m reality it was the other
way about Not only was Dora not taking so
much as a sjpht pea from him, Fedoseiev, but she
was caring for his family, sharing things with the

Free Love

261

last of them. She was not forgetting the children.
The two younger ones she had had taken into a
creche ; and to the eldest one, a scholar, she gave
copybooks, school books. Of course, in such a
way that Madame should not know of it. Him,
Fedoseiev, himself she had fitted out with a collar
and shirt for concerts ... Yet people, out of
malice, chattered what was detestable . . .

Fedoseiev ached in soul for Dora. What

mattered such things to him ? His care was for
her. How if something unpleasant for her were
to occur in the Party, because of him ? But his
wife was responsible throughout. She was stand-
ing in the way.

Vasilissa listened to Fedoseiev, but thought,
rather, of Vladimir and Nina. Thus too were

they being tormented. They were seeking a way
of escape. They were offended with Vasilissa.
Why was she standing in the way of their happi-
ness . . Vasilissa advised Madame Fedoseiev

voluntarily to get out of the way. It was no good
trying to retain an estranged happiness. How-
ever much one sought it, it eluded one, flew over '
one’s head. But what of herself ? Was not she

herself standing in the way ? Was not she herself
still trying to retain an estranged, departed
happiness ? . . .

Fedoseiev loved Dora. As he spoke of her he
seemed to become gentler from the very doing so.
Thus had it been with Wadimir whenever he had

recalled Nina . . .

“ Dora Abramovna has a heart of gold . . .
And in the Union all respect her. The non-Party

262 Free Love

people do not believe that there is any desire
in the Party to raise a case against her And
many are saying * Let her come over to us, the
non Party people l-Fe will always stand up for
Dora Abramovna ’ ’’

Fedoseiev had scarcely departed when Madame,
his spouse, waylaid Vasilissa She kissed her
shoulders, begged her to ** champion ” her
Vasilissa did not like her She repulsed her
imtably And then the woman inveighed against
the whole building, Dora, her husband, Vasilissa
— subjected them, one and all, to a curse

Vasilissa met Dora at the Partkom They
found a retired corner in a room where typists
were actively typing out documents on ^e
writers They could talk conveniently under
cover of the machines’ tapping It would ntit be
audible to others

Dora was good looking Her eyes were
intelligent She pleased Vasilissa

She was wrapped m a shawl She was con
cealing pregnancy

Dora ^oke of her own accord But not of her
self , of Fedoseiev Her care was for him ,
Dora appreciated him, valued his talent, thought
he had a remarkable voice Not inferior to
Chaliapin s He only needed to be taught
That was why Dora kept agitating for a mamage
With him, so as to wrest him from his familyi
to force him to give up his cobbler's trade, and
occupy himself properly with singing

Dora extolled Fedoseiev, but complained of
his lack of firmness So long as he was with

Free Love

263

Dora he was ready for anything. It had been
decided and subscribed ; that he would leave
his wife, petition for a divorce. But as soon as he
had returned home — that had been at an end. He
had cried off. And it would all have to be begun
again from the beginning. — ^Despite the months
that Dora had agitated, he had not stirred a step.

Vasilissa listened to Dora, but in her heart she
felt awkward, uneasy, oppressed. Was not that
how Nina spoke of Vladimir .?

To Dora all the formalities of divorce and
marriage were superfluous ; for her they were
“ rubbish ” ; she herself was for “ free wed-
lock,” but, until it should be registered at the
Commissariat, for Fedoseiev not leaving his
spouse for good. In this connection Dora
had brought her “ interesting condition ” into
play, so as to “ compunctionate ” Fedoseiev,
and compel him to a divorce. To her the function
of maternity was nothing dreadful : she could
fend for herself even without a husband.

To “ compunctionate ” him ? To “ compel ”
him to a divorce And Nina, then, had done
the same thing ?

Dora praised Fedoseiev, and demanded of
Vasilissa sympathy.

But Vasilissa was thinking her own thoughts.
Dora saw only the good in Fedoseiev. Did not
Nina, probably, love Wadimir in the same way }

- . Vasilissa could not do this. Vasilissa knew
also the bad in Vladimir. She loved him, but
suffered, ached of heart, longed to correct . . .
Perhaps, through this she had offended Volodia

264 ^0"^^

“ Why does his wife cling to him ? *’ Dora
asked vexedly ** Did the one ever care for the
other ? Well, it may have been so once, but now
they have nothing at all in common Does she
reaUy know him ^ Value him ? Docs she Teally
understand what he wants ^ **

“ Yes, yes,” Vasilissa reflected “ Between
you and Vladimir too it used to be thus He did
not know what I wanted I did not know what
he was thinking The paths of our life

diverged, went different wap 1 ”

“ To Madame Fedoseiev he is alien , in
everything the two arc different . Their
tastes are different, their aspirations are different
As a husband, she holds on to him , as a man, he
IS unnecessary to her For life he is unnecessary
to her ”

And for her, Vasihssa, was Vladimir necessary
as a man ? For life ?

She put to herself the question, and her heart
replied distinctly No, he, as he is become, is
not necessary

What sort of an affection is it,” Dora per-
sisted, ‘ when in nothing is there compatibility ?
Quarrels and quarrels Each for self alone
Neither fnendshtp nor trustfulness ”

“ Yes, yes ! ” thought Vasihssa ** Neither
fnendship nor trustfulness ”

Yet I and my comrade Fedoseiev understand
one another without a word, as though we were
one heart, one soul ”

** That must be how Nina and Vladimir love
one another 1 ”

Free Love

It was as though Vasilissa had only just realised
this. Realised it, undergone a revulsion of
thought.

Vasilissa had many affairs in hand. Party
affairs. Pressing affairs. She had to get ready
for her departure. But she did not forget about
the Fedoseievs. She busied herself. She tried to
hurry on a divorce. She strove to make peace
between the comrades and Fedoseiev, and to have
Dora exonerated.

This last seemed important in Vasilissa’s eyes.
Very much so. And why } She could not
express it in words.

Vasilissa went to the Partkom. And then she
hurried homeward. To-morrow she would be
en route for the Caucasus. Her head was full of
thoughts : as to how to organise the work anew.
So that it should issue according to the Party’s
instructions, and reach the non-Party masses.
The non-Party people now were what the Com-
munists were. Only, they still probed more into
everything, examined things for themselves.
They took nothing on hearsay, on trust. Give
them facts ; but, without a fact, you need not
trouble yourself.

Vasilissa’s head worked. She seemed to have
forgotten her womanly grief.- Her heart seemed
not to be missing her husband-friend. She seemed

Tl

266 Fret Lcve

not to have lived through a whole summer as a
“ Director’s lady ”

Vasihssa burned along She had eaten no-
thing since morning Bat'whcne^e^ she thought
of food a nausea came upon her heart, and
muddled, and whirled in circles m, her head
What day was it Was this some illness
or . ? A conjecture stirred within her The
third month ninnmg, and no monthly issue.
She had better see the woman doctor, Mana
Andraevna. She lived in a side street close by
They had worked together — organised creches
in house-communes Let her have a look, at her
She would say Whether or not she was too
unwell to go to work.

Vasihssa tamed into the side street. She
approached a white house. She rang the bell
Mana Andrcievna, the woman doctor, re
sponded in person. She was dehghted to see
Vasihssa.

Why have you come to visit me ^ On
busmess of some sort, or just for a call ? ”

Vasihssa hesitated, felt awkward somehow,
and even grew red of cheek. Mana Andreievna
looked at her for a moment. Attentively Then
took her by the shoulders

“ Let us go into my cabinet. Let me put you
through an examination ”

Mana Andreievna questioned Vasdissa about
her appetite, about her penods, about her dizzi
nesses of head As though she knew every
thing in advance. She explored Yasihssa-

This last operation Vasilissa found awkward.

Free Love

267

disagreeable. She had never before been to a
woman doctor. Indeed, it was actual pain to her
when she had to lie down upon a couch for the
exploration.

Then Vasilissa rearranged her clothes ; her
hands were trembling ; the hooks she simply
could not fasten.

By that time Maria Andreievna, in a white
overall, was standing by a sink, and carefully
washing her hands with soap and a nail brush.

For a moment neither of them spoke.

“ Well, Comrade Vasilissa, my love, I do not
know whether I shall gladden you or grieve you,
but only that there is no doubt in the case. You
are in ‘ the condition.’ There is pregnancy.”

“ Pregnancy ? ”

Vasilissa was surprised. And the next moment
a smile seemed to pass over her soul : A child }
That was splendid.

“ Well, shall you go back to your husband
now ? ” the doctor, in her white overall, asked
as she wiped her hands upon a bordered towel.

“ To my husband ? No.” And Vasilissa
resolutely shook her head. “ Never again shall
I go back to him. He and I are separate now
. . . Each on our own road.”

“ You have parted, you say ? At what a bad
moment ! How shall you get along now, my
dear ? Perhaps the matter could be put right
even yet, eh } To think of you alone with the
child . . . You are delicate.”

“ I shall not be alone. To-morrow I am to go
to the Caucasus. There there is an excellent

268 Free Love

‘ cell * And the women, the Caucasians,
are still more so Together we are going to
arrange cr^es A propos, I should like tc? ask
you how you have transferred )-our cy^hc
here to redemption Explain, advise ”

They talked of cr&dies, of subsidies, of con-
tributions, of payment of professionals Vasdissa
forgot all about her “ tidings Until, just as
she was taking her leave, Mana Andrefcvna
reminded her with

* You ought not to apply yourself overmuch to
work Remember that your health is not strong
I am afraid for you, my dear "

She added advice — ^that this thing “ must not
be done,’ and that that thing ** would be
fiaal * Vasilissa listened, laid to heart For the
sake of the child Let the child be healthy
Such a little creature — helpless

Vasilissa went out into the street As she
walked along she smiled

A child 1 That was well She would show
other ‘ women ’ an example of how to rear an
infant * in Communist fashion ” Absolutely no
time had they, as yet, for a familj. — what With
cooking, what with having to manage every sort
of fiddle faddle Cr&hes shall be organised
Common life “ on redemption terms ”

As an example on the most conspicuous lines
possible

Vasilissa thought ” of redemption,” and forgot
about the child Nor did she remember Vladmur
As though he had not been the father

Free Love

269

Vasilissa was packing. A casket turned up.
In it Volodia’s letters. A portrait of him. And,
on the top, an oblong, coloured envelope. Nina
Konstantinovna’s letter.

Vasilissa looked at it. Turned it over in her
hands. Knew it by heart, but wanted to read it
once more. It would irritate the sore, but
refrain she could not. She would begin to read the
letter, and sorrow would arrive, and, gnawing
with snakelike fang, riot over her heart. And,
after it, chilliness would ensue. Chilliness —
wrath against Vladimir. Why had he lied ?
Why had he deceived ?

Vasilissa took the letter. She seated herself
nearer the window. Evening was falling. She
unfolded the familiar sheet.

She read it attentively. Word by word.

But gnawing sorrow did not materialise. And
the serpent, the venomous torturer, seemed to
have weakened of fang. Vasilissa’s heart rested
in peace.

Instead of the accustomed serpent there un-
expectedly sprang to birth in Vasilissa’s heart —
compassion. Compassion for the tears of Nina
Konstantinovna. Compassion for the grief, for
the pain — for the wrongs, of the other woman’s
heart. She remembered Nina, how, as she had
moved away from the music, she had wiped
away tears with finger tips . . . Why had she
suffered ? Why had she taken upon herself

270 Fr« Loie

such anguish ^ She had expected a child .

She had put aside the child \Vh> ^

Vasilissa approached the table She swept
together Grusha’s snippings, and set out the
inkstand And so to a letter

“ Nina Konstantinovna, I do not know jou,
what you are like I have seen you only once
On that occasion, I tell ) ou franklj , ) ou did not
please me But when }ou wept as }ou began to
walk away from the music I understood jour
grief with my heart, and pitied you I have just
been reading once more your letter to Vladimir
Ivanovitch This letter of yours I now restore
to you , I took It irregularly, unbeknown to
Vladimir But it has served thoroughly its
service So that because of it you have no need
to be angry with me 1 have thought much oi er
your letter I have this moment read it again,
and now see that X have m me no enmity against
you, no sense of wrong I see that you yourself
have incurred great anguish because of me As
I have said to Vladimir, so I say to you, that there
has been enough playing at concealment You
ought to make j ourself die wife, the lawful wife,
of Vladimir Iranovitch You two are more suited
to one another 1 am not a wife to him, for our
tastes are different, and wc have walked, in hfc,
along different roads What his thoughts are 1
do not know , and he, on. his side, does not
understand me Except for trouble, our life
gives us nothing And even without you the
same would be the case I have parted from
Vladimir, not because jou have taken btm from

Free Love

271

me, but because you have been able to capture a
heart which has in it no love for myself. As once
I lived without Vladimir, so now I will live again.
Whereas for you, in point of fact, life is not life
without him. It is always so when one person
loves another. I and Vladimir Ivanovitch have
lived in free wedlock, and therefore a divorce is
not required. I have no reproaches for you. If
I had known earlier how you loved one another I
should have taken this step long ago. Tell
Vladimir Ivanovitch that against him too I have
no grudge ; that, as I have been his friend, so his
friend I will remain. And to yourself, in case of
need, I shall always be ready to render any help or
service. Formerly I bore you ill-will in my heart.
But, now that I have realised all, I have a great
pity for you, for your tears, for your womanly
sufferings and pangs. As a sister I wish you to
be happy. Salute Vladimir, and tell him, from
me, to guard with his heart his young wife.
Against eventualities, I am writing down for you
my new address. If, or when, you should write
I will answer you. You and I, Nina Konstantin-
ovna, are not enemies, even though, against our
wills, we have caused one another much sorrow.
Neither of us have done so of malice. Goodbye.
With wishes for your complete happiness.
Vasilissa Malygina.”

At foot Vasilissa neatly inscribed her
address.

She placed the two letters in an envelope. She
licked the envelope with her tongue. She closed
it down.

272 Love

And suddenly, not with her mind, but with her
soul, she understood herewith the end

The end?

Then where the pain ?

No pain

And where the serpent torturer ?

No serpent

Where the longing — heady, sucking ^

No longing, eiSier

Volodia was the American — not Volodia He
had become “ Vladimir Ivanovitch * She thought
of Vladimir — she saw Nina She thought of
Nina — ^Vladimir stood outlined beside the latter

They had become, as it were, one for Vasihssa
Inseparable, indivisible One, and not painfully
Let them be one 1

The little flame of love passion had burnt itself
out. It had become ash strewn

Quietness in the heart Restfulness As in a
garden after a storm.

VasiUssa was standing by the window She
was adimnng the sunset A sunset stormy,
amongst purple clouds edged with gold Rooks
were arcling, camng, seeking roost

The air was redolent of dry leaves, mushrooms,
autumnal soil Scented, braang, familiar Not
stalely enervating, as at Wadimir s place
Vasili<:sa inhaled, greedily imbibed, the air

Free Love

m

It was good to be alive !

She leant out of the window. In the little fore-
court Grusha was taking down washed linen
from a line for the night.

“ Grusha ! Grusha ! Come up here quickly.
I have news. Good news . . .”

“ I am coming.”

She came, threw the linen on the bed.

“ What is the news } Have you received a
letter of some sort ? ”

“ A letter is a letter, but I have not received one
— I have written one instead. Guess to whom ? ”

“ To Vladimir Ivanovitch, of course.”

“ Then you are wrong ! Not to him. But to
the sudarushka, his wife, Nina Konstantinovna.”

“ What has caused that ? ” Grusha asked in
astonishment.

“You see, Grusha, I read Nina’s letter once
more, and a great pity for her sprang- to birth in
my heart . . . She too had, because of me, incurred
pain. She had deprived herself of a child for my
sake . . . She had endured, sorrowed, suffered . . .
And why ? She and I_ were not rivals, not
enemies . . . Had there not been love, had she of
calculation taken Vladimir from me, I should
never have pardoned her, I should have cherished
anger against her. But now that I have realised
all about her, why should I ? . She loves Vladimir.
She loves him strongly . . . Loves him more than
I do . . . Hers is the right . . . For her, without
Vladimir, life is not. She writes so : without you
I shall perish. But is Vladimir necessary to my-
self r I have thought, Grusha — I have thought.

Free Lo-^e

274

and it has become dear to me that my sorrow is
not about him at al! If only Volodika the
Amencan could have returned to me The
matter then would have been different About
him, Gmsha, m) sorrow is — about the former
Volodia But that one, the American, exists no
longer 1 And could not exist So why should I
distress Nina '* Why should I stand in the ivay
of their happiness Retain a Director ^ Is a
‘ Director ’ necessary to me ? "

“ 'i es, why should you need a Director ^ *’
Grusha agreed “ Things are bad already »
many of our folk here left us, and made them
sches Directors But do not )ou worrj, Vasi-
hssa Mind, not a few of our * children ^ still
are left to us You need only look at the non-
Part) people 1 That » where you will find the
most Communists — real, proletarian ones **

“ And that IS true our people are being added
to dail} But those others ? Long ago they
bartered their proletariamsm for lamps, for quilted
overcoats We do not understand one another
So I consider, Grusha why should I harass
Nma ? Wh) should 1 hold Vladimir so that he
be neither mamed nor free What good can that
do me ? It IS necessary to make an end Without
anger, let it be We have suffered enough
When I left Vladimir I did not grasp this Still I
was waiting for something 1 was hoping for
something I thought to myself if Madimir
should depart from me to another woman— I
shall die ot regret So I came hither in an
intoxication of woe I had not perceived my

Free Love ~ 275

road . . . But wlien I went to the Partkonij betook
myself to business, other cares and anxiety beset
me, and the woe ceased, as it were, to be . . .
Whether or not you believe me, I tell you honestly
that in my heart there is neither pain nor jealousy
. . . There is calm in my heart. Restfulness.”

“ Praise be to the Queen of Heaven ! ”
Grusha hastily crossed herself, glanced at the
ikon in the corner. “ Not for nothing, Vasilissa,
have I prayed to the Most Holy One on my
knees by night . . . Help a woman’s heart ! . .
Heal Vasilissa.”

Vasilissa smiled.

“ Now, Grusha ! You are incorrigible. Still
you keep believing in ikons ? Yet what you
said, believing it, has come p-ue ; I have been
healed ! Veritably so. For ever so many months
I walked as though in a delirium. I was not
conscious of myself, I would not behold life. I
had forgotten the Party . . . And now I am whole.
Everything rejoices me, everything seems to me
new. There has been — ^yesterday ; it follows
that there will be to-morrow as well ! . . Vladimir
is not ; the Party is ... It was just the same with
me after the typhus, when I began to grow
convalescent.”

“ Only, mustn’t you take care that your illness
doesn’t seize you again ? . . When a previous
man begins writing letters of repentance ...”

“ No, Grusha ; that cannot happen.” Vasi-
lissa nodded her head thoughtfully. “ It is as
though something has undergone a revolution in
my heart . . . ‘ I have no bitterness against you,

2^6 Free Love

no reproaches for you And of you, of Nina, all
jealousy is gone But pity is left ^ All three of
us have been struggling in a charmed arcle,
seeking escape We cherished enmity

against one another We could not find the
exit So long as the enmity did not pass But
when I admitted Nina into my heart I issued
from the circle of sufferings It is not that^^
I pardoned her , what had I to pardon ^ But I
pitied her as a sister, for our womanly pangs, for
the fact that she had endured anguish no less
than my own Not through any faulf of

hers, but because life had becopie fm* us so
trackless 1 pitied her, 'Grusha, and things
became easier for me There is no more pain
No longing No suffering

Well, well 1 It was bound to be so It
means that you have fallen out of love with him
Love always is platted up with pain Let love
give one the least bit of joy, and, when one looks
for the joy, sorrow knits into it its shadow But
when there is no suffering, of course there is an
end of love ^

That is not true, Grusha You should not
talk thus And Vasilissa wagged her head
I have not fallen out of love with Vladimir
He IS here in my heart Only, the love has
become different There is no offendedness in
it the anger against him is gone It is

thanks to him for the past love, for our former
happiness Why should I conceive wrath against
Valdimir So long as he loved my happiness was
ours When he ceased to love me, whose the

277

Free Love

fault ? And for the past — ^thanks again . . .
Vladimir has become, as it were, a brother, and
Nina — a sister. I tHnk of them, and there is
neither anger nor jealousy, but things grow, with
me, warmer at heart . . . Do not you believe
me, Grusha .? What I say is true ! . . Our
happiness has been ; now their turn has arrived
. . . To each their right. So long only as there
'"be not, also, enmity and deceit.”

i' What you say about deceit is true ; but why
you should account Nina a sister remains to me
- a mykery . . . You have got something clever
in yoiu: mind, Vasilissa ! Take care not to be
too clever, to be too much the.. Communist.
That you have ‘forgiven Vladimir and Nina — ^that,
of course, is better. When one has forgiven —
one has forgotten. Out of heart, out of remem-
brance . . . But there is no need to love those
two ! You had better keep your love, your heart,
for working-folk. They are coming to be badly
off now ; they have lost faith in themselves . . .
They don’t need Party skill now ; give them
spirituality, warm them, restore their hope . . .
I myself am non-Party, but I see it all. If you,
Vasilissa, should ask it of me, I will always tell
you the truth. I understand that 'Communism
of yours no less than you.”

“ You, Grusha, are one of us. All know that.
Only, why do you believe in ikons ? . . Now,
now. Do not be angry 1 Do not frown. I
won’t do it any more. I won’t vex you, or dis-
pute. To-day, Grusha, I have something like a
festival in my heart. Bright, light, free . . .

278 Free Love

And do you not know who has healed ine ^
Well ? Guess 1 ”

“ I cannot imagine ”

" The Fedoseievs ’’

“ You don't say so ! Now, good luck to them
for that I For such a work may Madame
Fedosciev be forgiven all her sins and wicked-
nesses "

They laughed

“ But I ha\ e not told you my chief news,
Grusha I have been to the woman dot^or
I am m ' the condition * . I am expecting

a child .

In ‘ the condition ’ ? *' Grusha clapped her
hands " But how can that be so ? And how
have you come to give your husband hts freedom ^
How could you leave the child without a father ?
Ot , a-ccordiTig to tSA fasAuow, host, y tyi —
to cause an abortion ^ ’*

** Wh} an abortion ? Let the child grow up
And why a husband ? Merely a tradition,
that, about ‘ fathers ' Madame Fedosciev
has three children, but Fedosciev has gone to
Dora ”

** And how will you rear it alone ^ ”

“ Why alone ? The Organisation will rear it
We shall establish creches I ha\e been

thinking of appointing you to be a colleague with
the crfeches You love children So it will
be your and my child, common to us both '*
" In the Communist way ? ”

'* Exactly 1 ’*

This amused both

“ And now, Grusha let us hurry with the
packing. The train leaves early to-morrow. To-
morrow I go to work. I am to establish on my
own lines. Alexeivitch has given me his blessing.
. . . Again to work . . . You can understand
what joy, Grusha ? ”

She caught hold of Grusha’s hands. They
circled about the room like youngsters. They
almost upset the lay figure.

They laughed. In the forecourt could the
laughter be heard.

“ One needs to live, Grusha ! To live ! ”

To live and work.

To live and strive.

To live, and love life.

Like bees in lilac 1

Like birds in the depths of a garden !
Like grasshoppers in turf ! . . .

THE END